ABN Amro Investment Solutions Boosts Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

ABN Amro Investment Solutions lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 52.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 113,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,104 shares during the period. ABN Amro Investment Solutions’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $18,043,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 118,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,663,000 after purchasing an additional 9,984 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 3,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 912,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $127,701,000 after purchasing an additional 3,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.0% during the second quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 7,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,125,000 after buying an additional 1,158 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Michael Grimes’ return to Morgan Stanley is being framed as catalyzing a rebound in technology IPO activity — investors see this as potentially boosting MS’s investment banking fees and market positioning in the tech IPO cycle. Michael Grimes Return Puts Morgan Stanley At Center Of Tech IPO Cycle
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Investment Management is reportedly exploring a ~$500M continuation vehicle for India healthcare assets — a sign the firm is leveraging its asset‑management platform to generate fee income and secondary-market activity. That bolsters the revenue mix beyond trading/IB. Morgan Stanley said to consider $500 million India fund, shifts some assets
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Research is publishing bullish thematic work (private AVs, AI/semiconductors and “buy‑the‑dip” views on resilient software names) that supports expectations for advisory and sales flow into technology and infrastructure sectors where MS has coverage and syndication presence. That research momentum can lift investor sentiment. Private AV Startups are About to Take Over U.S. Streets
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley research pieces (e.g., recommended AI‑chip names) and analyst notes highlighting buy opportunities in software/semiconductors help the firm’s visible franchise, but are indirect drivers of near‑term stock moves — they mainly influence flow into sectors MS covers. SNDK or QCOM: Morgan Stanley Picks One Top AI Semiconductor Stock to Buy
• Negative Sentiment: Offsetting the positives, reporting that CEO Ted Pick’s total pay rose ~32% to ~$45M draws governance and cost scrutiny — some investors interpret large executive pay increases as a potential negative for shareholder alignment and a near‑term headline risk. Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick’s pay rises 32% to $45 million

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 8,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.08, for a total value of $1,547,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 119,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,690,826.24. This trade represents a 6.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 357,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,254,222.62. The trade was a 8.45% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 2.0%

MS opened at $171.40 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $272.40 billion, a PE ratio of 16.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.20. 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. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $180.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.12.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 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 return on equity of 16.92% and a net margin of 14.09%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Evercore ISI cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $211.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.93.

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.