Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Bought by Aptus Capital Advisors LLC

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 248,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,446 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $39,485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 3,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $499,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 23.2% during the 2nd quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 16,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,276,000 after buying an additional 3,045 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 10,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,513,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 81.8% in the second quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 5,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $755,000 after buying an additional 2,412 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.61, for a total transaction of $6,020,286.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 357,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,254,222.62. This represents a 8.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction, the chief financial officer 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 a total of 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506 in the last ninety days. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on MS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Evercore lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $211.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $207.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two equities 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.93.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Advanced filing to launch a spot Bitcoin trust — Morgan Stanley amended its S‑1 for a spot BTC Trust and named Coinbase and BNY Mellon as custody/administration partners, moving the firm closer to offering a passive bitcoin ETF. That product could create recurring fee revenue and expand MS’s asset-management offerings in crypto. Morgan Stanley taps Coinbase and BNY for Bitcoin ETF custody
• Neutral Sentiment: Provision of major loan facility to Core Scientific — MS provided an initial $500M facility (expandable to $1B) to Core Scientific to fund AI/data‑center build‑out. The deal generates origination and arrangement revenue but also increases exposure to a cyclical, crypto‑adjacent borrower; impact to credit metrics depends on future draw/repayment and collateral. Core Scientific secures up to $1B credit from Morgan Stanley for data centers
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst activity and ongoing franchise work — Morgan Stanley research continues to publish sector calls and price‑target moves (e.g., coverage updates on Brookfield and others). These are normal franchise activities that support fee generation but are not large single‑day catalysts for MS equity. Morgan Stanley Raises its Price Target on Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (BAM) to $63
• Negative Sentiment: Companywide layoffs (~2,500 roles, ~3% of workforce) across investment banking, trading, wealth and investment management — the cuts, reported broadly today, signal immediate cost reductions but also raise investor questions about revenue trends, AI‑driven restructuring and execution risk during the transition. That announcement appears to be a primary driver of today’s negative sentiment. Morgan Stanley Sheds 2,500 Employees in Companywide Layoffs
• Negative Sentiment: Shares underperforming the broader market after headlines — market coverage notes MS is down more than the index as investors digest the layoff and restructuring news along with franchise moves. Morgan Stanley (MS) Declines More Than Market: Some Information for Investors

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $162.45 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $178.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.58. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $192.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $257.95 billion, a PE ratio of 15.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released 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 business had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.22 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.18%.

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.