Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Has $4.84 Million Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 12.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,172 shares during the quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,841,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth approximately $212,000. Brookwood Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth approximately $454,000. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 36.3% in the second quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 4,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 23.8% in the second quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 191,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,951,000 after buying an additional 36,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Market coverage notes the stock is outperforming peers today, reflecting renewed investor interest in the firm. Morgan Stanley (MS) Rises Higher Than Market: Key Facts
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on major financial names and list Morgan Stanley among favored ways to play an M&A upcycle — a key revenue tailwind for MS’s investment banking and advisory franchises. Morgan Stanley or Evercore: Which is a Smarter Bet Amid M&A Upcycle?
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s research highlighting a “reindustrialization renaissance” tied to AI-driven capex reinforces the firm’s positioning to benefit from higher corporate advisory and trading activity tied to the AI cycle. That thematic research can boost MS’s fees and trading flow. Morgan Stanley hails rare ‘reindustrialization renaissance’ of AI economy—but it’s better for computers than humans
• Positive Sentiment: Deal activity within Morgan Stanley’s private-equity arm signals continued fee generation and deal flow (MS Capital Partners completed an acquisition), a modest but visible positive for firm-wide fees. Morgan Stanley Capital Partners Acquires Security 101
• Neutral Sentiment: Elevated investor attention/search interest in MS is being reported — higher attention can increase volume and intraday moves but is not a fundamental change. Investors Heavily Search Morgan Stanley (MS): Here is What You Need to Know
• Neutral Sentiment: Active analyst coverage at the firm (e.g., internal price‑target changes on other names) shows Morgan Stanley remains a major broker-dealer and research house — supportive for franchise credibility but indirect for MS stock. Morgan Stanley Slashes IONQ Price Target Ahead of Q4 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Lingering concerns that hit shares earlier this week — including commentary about AI risks to borrowers and elevated advisor recruitment/compensation costs — remain watch‑points; they can cap upside if costs or credit worries resurface. Why Morgan Stanley Stock Dropped on Monday Morgan Stanley’s Advisor Recruiting Costs Pile Up

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 8,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.08, for a total transaction of $1,547,680.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 119,128 shares in the company, valued at $21,690,826.24. The trade was a 6.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $168.73 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $94.33 and a twelve month high of $192.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $179.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $166.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $267.91 billion, a PE ratio of 16.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on MS. Barclays raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Dbs Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $157.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley 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.