BXM Wealth LLC Boosts Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

BXM Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 261.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,516 shares during the period. BXM Wealth LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,599,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 65.2% in the third quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 91.9% in the third quarter. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC now owns 213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley signaled a near‑term launch for a bitcoin ETF after filing Amendment No. 4 — a potential positive for future asset‑management AUM and fee revenue if the product attracts institutional flows. Morgan Stanley Signals Bitcoin ETF Near Launch
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/research coverage highlights Morgan Stanley’s strong earnings‑surprise history and argues MS is positioned to beat again — this underpins investor confidence in MS’s core wealth & investment banking franchise and its recurring advisory/trading revenue. Will Morgan Stanley (MS) Beat Estimates Again?
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley research published an “earnings‑surprise composite” and a list of stocks poised for surprises — a reminder MS’s research product can drive client engagement and trading flow but is not an immediate earnings event for the bank itself. These 10 stocks are poised for earnings surprises in April: Morgan Stanley
• Neutral Sentiment: E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley released its monthly sector‑rotation study — useful for gauging client retail flows and sentiment across sectors but unlikely to move MS’s stock on its own. E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley Releases Monthly Sector Rotation Study
• Negative Sentiment: Market commentary highlights recent soft share‑price performance and a modest pullback over the past quarter — valuation and short‑term momentum concerns could limit upside near term. A Look At Morgan Stanley (MS) Valuation After Recent Soft Share Price Performance
• Negative Sentiment: Recent MS research activity (downgrades/target trims on other companies, e.g., Bank of America, Lufthansa coverage) signals a more cautious macro/sector stance from the bank’s analysts — this can reduce risk appetite in the short term and slightly dampen trading commissions tied to volatile sectors. Morgan Stanley Trims BAC Target to $61

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $185.73.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $166.04 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $263.65 billion, a PE ratio of 16.26, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $169.18 and its 200 day moving average is $169.42. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $192.68. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.40. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.22 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.18%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.61, for a total transaction of $6,020,286.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 357,342 shares in the company, valued at $65,254,222.62. The trade was a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 15,838 shares of the company’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 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506 in the last three months. 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.