AlphaQuest LLC Acquires 23,599 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 395.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,599 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley makes up 0.3% of AlphaQuest LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,700,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 97.4% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 22,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,644,000 after buying an additional 11,311 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 581,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,407,000 after acquiring an additional 21,458 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 87,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,867,000 after acquiring an additional 9,345 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 45.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 30,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,905,000 after acquiring an additional 9,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at approximately $5,417,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target 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. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE MS opened at $182.23 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $192.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $178.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $162.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $289.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.85, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (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 16.92%. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 39.18%.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s research is getting attention — analysts reiterated bullish views on Nvidia and published notes saying the NVDA story is “getting stronger,” which reinforces MS’s high-profile research franchise and fee-generating advisory/flow business. ‘It’s Getting Stronger,’ Says Morgan Stanley About Nvidia Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reported a strong quarter in mid-January (EPS and revenue beat), which supports its fundamentals and underpins the stock despite today’s weakness.
• Neutral Sentiment: MS economists and strategists are active in the press — Michael Gapen and others are framing Fed/real‑rate expectations and signaling the timing of future cuts could shift; this positions MS as a market voice but is informational rather than an immediate stock driver. Jerome Powell says economy has ‘clearly improved’…
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley research has flagged sector-level shifts from interest-rate trends (spending moving toward goods vs. services); useful for clients and positioning but not an immediate binary for MS stock. Morgan Stanley Expects Interest Rate Trends to Shift Spending
• Negative Sentiment: Broad market / big-tech weakness is the biggest near-term drag: ETFs and large caps (MSFT, NVDA, AMZN, etc.) have suffered sizable moves today, which usually depresss trading revenue, wealth-management flows and investor sentiment for MS. VTI is down 1.4% today, on PLTR stock price movement
• Negative Sentiment: Bond‑market “disconnects” noted by a Morgan Stanley exec and reported in the press are creating episodic volatility and liquidity frictions — a headwind for trading and fixed‑income desks, which can pressure broker‑dealer earnings and thus the stock. A Morgan Stanley exec says chaotic headlines are creating disconnects in the bond market

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 135,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,135,424.08. This represents a 10.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 8,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.08, for a total value of $1,547,680.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 119,128 shares in the company, valued at $21,690,826.24. This trade represents a 6.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 96,223 shares of company stock worth $17,716,220. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

About Morgan Stanley

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.