Abner Herrman & Brock LLC Trims Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Abner Herrman & Brock LLC lowered its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 158,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,358 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley makes up approximately 2.9% of Abner Herrman & Brock LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Abner Herrman & Brock LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $28,077,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $929,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 3,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 2,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Cadence Bank increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.0% in the third quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 2,183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the third quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,102,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. HSBC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $173.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.14.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS stock opened at $158.60 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-year high of $192.68. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $173.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.35. The company has a market capitalization of $251.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.53, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

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. 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. 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 (DPR) is presently 39.18%.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wealth management scale — Morgan Stanley’s wealth arm reported IRA assets under management topping $1 trillion, a milestone that supports recurring fee revenue and client stickiness for MS’s highest‑margin business. MS Wealth Management IRA AUM Crosses $1T
• Positive Sentiment: Crypto product pipeline — Morgan Stanley Investment Management has advanced an S‑1 for a spot Bitcoin ETF (ticker MSBT on NYSE Arca). If approved, the trust could generate new fee income and position MS competitively in digital‑asset product distribution. Morgan Stanley Bitcoin ETF Filing Advances
• Positive Sentiment: Research/trading momentum — Morgan Stanley’s research desk has been active, including bullish calls around AI/semiconductor names (e.g., Nvidia). Strong research and trading flow can support investment‑banking and markets revenues in volatile tape. Morgan Stanley Sounds the Bullish Drum on Nvidia
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/update: Morgan Stanley revised its Fed timing — the firm now expects rate cuts later (September/December), which changes outlook for rates‑sensitive businesses but is a macro view rather than an immediate earnings shock. Morgan Stanley pushes back rate cuts to September and December
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical/positioning note — commentary that MS shows rising relative strength but remains shy of a key benchmark is informational for traders assessing momentum, not a company fundamental. Morgan Stanley shows rising relative strength
• Negative Sentiment: Private‑credit liquidity scare — Morgan Stanley limited redemptions from its North Haven Private Income Fund after a surge in withdrawal requests and flagged rising default risks tied to AI disruption in parts of private credit. That raises short‑term liquidity and reputational risk and could pressure earnings or require provisioning. Morgan Stanley Tests Private Credit Liquidity
• Negative Sentiment: Market‑risk warnings: Morgan Stanley flagged a possible 15%–20% downside for Asian equities if energy risks persist. Those calls reflect the firm’s risk views but also signal potential mark‑to‑market pressure across asset inventories and client portfolios. Morgan Stanley flags 15%–20% downside for Asia stocks

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 15,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.77, for a total value of $2,942,225.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 135,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,135,424.08. The trade was a 10.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506 over the last quarter. 0.19% of the stock is owned by 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.