Centaurus Financial Inc. Buys 3,543 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 28.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,543 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,511,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 103.1% in the third quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 12,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,019,000 after purchasing an additional 6,448 shares during the last quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 467,246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,273,000 after purchasing an additional 9,056 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 97.4% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 22,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,644,000 after purchasing an additional 11,311 shares during the last quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 52.6% during the 3rd quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 113,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,043,000 after buying an additional 39,104 shares during the period. Finally, A4 Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth about $855,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Wealth Management says IRA assets under management have topped $1 trillion — a milestone that signals stronger recurring fee income and deeper client relationships, which supports MS’s higher‑margin wealth business and valuation. Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Surpasses $1 Trillion in IRA AUM
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners agreed to sell its stake in the Bayonne Energy Center — a realization event for MS’s private infrastructure platform that can generate realized gains, free up capital, and demonstrate MS’s ability to monetize private assets for clients and funds. MSIP Agrees to Sell Bayonne Energy Center
• Positive Sentiment: Underlying fundamentals remain supportive: Morgan Stanley’s prior quarterly report beat consensus on EPS and revenue growth (solid ROE and margins), reinforcing investor confidence in fee and trading businesses as rates and markets evolve. (Company Q4/Jan earnings context: MS reported an EPS beat and revenue growth in its most recent quarter.)
• Neutral Sentiment: MS research continues to move markets — the firm’s bullish analyst notes on names like Nvidia keep Morgan Stanley visible as a market‑moving research shop, which helps trading and capital markets flow generation but is an indirect driver of MS’s stock. Morgan Stanley Sounds the Bullish Drum on Nvidia
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is sticking with a June Fed rate‑cut forecast — a macro call that frames expected trading/markets revenue and risk appetite but is subject to evolving oil and macro data; this helps set investor expectations rather than delivering an immediate balance‑sheet effect. MS Sticks With June Rate Cut Call
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley research warns AI‑driven disruption in software could push private‑credit defaults higher — a sector‑level risk that could pressure banks and asset managers with private‑credit exposure and add volatility to credit markets (a potential headwind for parts of MS’s asset‑management and lending franchises). MS Warns Private‑Credit Defaults May Rise From AI Disruption

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 15,838 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.77, for a total transaction of $2,942,225.26. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 135,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,135,424.08. This represents a 10.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on 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 $65,254,222.62. This represents a 8.45% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $211.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Barclays upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.14.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS stock opened at $158.67 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $174.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $168.42. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-year high of $192.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The firm has a market cap of $251.94 billion, a PE ratio of 15.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.40. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 14.09%.The company had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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