Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Sells 4,016 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 288,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,016 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $45,872,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Donaldson Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 467,246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,273,000 after purchasing an additional 9,056 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 97.4% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 22,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,644,000 after purchasing an additional 11,311 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.8% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 581,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,407,000 after purchasing an additional 21,458 shares during the period. A4 Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth about $855,000. Finally, ABN AMRO Bank N.V. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 569.5% in the third quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. now owns 296,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,484,000 after buying an additional 252,435 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $3,966,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 171,005 shares in the company, valued at $31,464,920. This trade represents a 11.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 15,838 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.77, for a total value of $2,942,225.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 135,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,135,424.08. The trade was a 10.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506 in the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $211.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.93.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results & valuation check: recent coverage highlights Morgan Stanley’s better-than-expected Q4 earnings and a rebound in investment banking activity — the core drivers cited for the stock’s move as investors price in stronger fee revenue and improved outlook. Morgan Stanley valuation check
• Positive Sentiment: Index positioning: a note that Morgan Stanley is positioned among Russell 1000 ETF constituents supports expectations of incremental passive inflows if/when indices are rebalanced — a technical bid to shares. MS Positioned Among Russell 1000 ETF Constituents
• Positive Sentiment: Advisory momentum: Morgan Stanley topped power-sector M&A advisory in 2025 — evidence its advisory pipeline and fee generation are strong, reinforcing the investment-banking recovery narrative. That supports revenue diversification beyond markets. Morgan Stanley tops power M&A
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional flows / stake moves: a small buy by Linscomb Wealth marginally increased MS holdings — a minor positive signal about demand from wealth managers but not material to stock direction. Linscomb Wealth purchases MS shares
• Neutral Sentiment: Investment-banking pipeline evidence: Morgan Stanley appears among anchor/backer activity on deals (e.g., Fractal Analytics IPO anchor interest), underscoring continued capital-markets engagement — supportive over time but not an immediate share-mover. Fractal Analytics anchor investors
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrade: Evercore ISI trimmed Morgan Stanley from “strong-buy” to “hold” — a near-term headwind for sentiment that can cap upside until guidance/earnings prove durable. Evercore downgrade / Zacks note
• Negative Sentiment: Sector costs & policy risk: Reuters reports U.S. banks increased lobbying as policy fights heat up — a reminder of rising regulatory/policy risk and possible higher compliance costs that affect all large banks, including MS. Banks boost Washington lobbying

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $180.07 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $180.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $164.14. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $192.68. The firm has a market cap of $286.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.92%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 39.18%.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.