Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations Trims Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations lowered its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 30.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 18,664 shares during the quarter. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $6,735,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth $2,234,883,000. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 23.4% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,357,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,318,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,776,544 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 319.7% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,092,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $294,727,000 after purchasing an additional 1,593,774 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 18.1% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,623,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,355,537,000 after buying an additional 1,476,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,123,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,779,734,000 after buying an additional 1,354,142 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a report on Friday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.6%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $176.88 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $281.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $181.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $164.75. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $192.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its 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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.92%. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.22 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 39.18%.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley rehired veteran dealmaker Michael Grimes to lead investment banking — a move that should strengthen MS’s IB origination and M&A capabilities and supports longer‑term fees if deal flow recovers. MSN: Morgan Stanley rehires Grimes
• Positive Sentiment: MS research boosted Micron (MU) estimates and price target — shows the firm’s research franchise is influential and can support trading and investment‑banking positioning around AI/semi names (ancillary benefit to MS revenue mix). Benzinga: Micron pops after Morgan Stanley praise
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley published broad AI research (scanned ~3,600 stocks) and guidance on how to pick AI winners — positions MS as a market thought leader that may drive trading/research client activity but is not an immediate earnings catalyst. MarketWatch: MS examined 3,600 stocks amid AI shakeout
• Neutral Sentiment: MS presented at the UBS Financial Services conference (management / strategy disclosure). Such appearances provide transparency on strategy (wealth pivot, expense guidance) — useful to investors but typically incremental. Seeking Alpha: MS UBS conference transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market headwinds and rotation/volatility in AI‑led software are weighing on risk assets; Morgan Stanley’s stock is likely being affected by profit‑taking and sector volatility despite positive company moves. Morgan Stanley has also flagged macro/market credit risks tied to the AI selloff narrative. Yahoo: AI-led software selloff may pose risk

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owned 127,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,598,777.60. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.61, for a total value of $6,020,286.48. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 357,342 shares in the company, valued at $65,254,222.62. This trade represents a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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.