Midwest Trust Co Increases Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Midwest Trust Co grew its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 162,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 25,217 shares during the period. Midwest Trust Co’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $25,863,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the third quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,102,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. LeConte Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. LeConte Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 3,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $435,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.7% in the third quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Evercore lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.3%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $182.32 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $192.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $289.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $180.85 and a 200 day moving average of $164.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.92%. The company’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $3,966,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 171,005 shares in the company, valued at $31,464,920. The trade was a 11.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.55, for a total value of $3,691,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 127,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,598,777.60. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s Q4 results and the sectorwide rebound in trading and deal activity are supporting investor confidence — MS reported a Q4 earnings beat and revenue growth (quarterly EPS and revenue topped expectations), which underpins the stock’s gain today.
• Positive Sentiment: MS research/coverage is driving flows into niche sectors (notably bitcoin miners and some AI-related names); several miners and tech stocks rallied after Morgan Stanley initiated/upgraded coverage, which helps overall market sentiment for the firm as a research leader. Two Bitcoin Miners Rise On Morgan Stanley Coverage, AI Potential
• Neutral Sentiment: Market writeups continue to list MS among the investment‑banking leaders benefiting from solid Q4 results and stronger trading/deal activity, which supports a constructive narrative but is already priced into large-cap bank multiples. 3 Must-Buy Investment Bank Behemoths After Solid Q4 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Ongoing analyst activity from MS (revisions and coverage changes across names like Duolingo and Cardinal Health) highlights the firm’s influential research flow — supportive for MS’s fee and research positioning but not an immediate earnings driver for MS itself. Morgan Stanley Cuts Duolingo PT to $245
• Negative Sentiment: Evercore/other outlets trimmed their stance on Morgan Stanley (cut to Hold), creating some short‑term headwind and reminding investors there are near‑term execution/valuation concerns despite robust results. Morgan Stanley Cut to Hold at Evercore

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.