CenterBook Partners LP Invests $1.33 Million in Morgan Stanley $MS

CenterBook Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 8,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,328,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,123,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,779,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354,142 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.2% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,045,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,387,005,000 after buying an additional 749,150 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth $2,234,883,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,438,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,894,023,000 after buying an additional 374,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,980,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,546,659,000 after acquiring an additional 28,420 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 2025 earnings beat — Morgan Stanley reported $2.68 diluted EPS (above $2.28 consensus) and $17.9B revenue (above consensus), with profit and ROE improving versus year-ago results. That beat supports valuation multiples and investor confidence in core businesses. Morgan Stanley Q4 2025 earnings (Quiver)
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Wealth Management is cutting transaction fees on private-share trading via its EquityZen marketplace, widening access to private markets for clients and potentially increasing platform volume and AUM-driven fees over time. This is a strategic, client-facing fee action that supports recurring fee growth. MS press release: EquityZen fee reduction
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional positioning and research influence — filings and press coverage show Morgan Stanley increasing certain crypto-related stakes (e.g., BitMine) and remaining active with analyst coverage (initiations/ratings across GE, CoreWeave, etc.). These activities highlight diversified revenue/alpha generation but carry mixed risk/reward. Wall Street boosts Bitmine stakes (Cointelegraph)
• Neutral Sentiment: Research calls can move sectors — recent Morgan Stanley analyst notes (e.g., cautious stance ahead of CoreWeave earnings, new coverage of GE Aerospace) underscore the firm’s market influence; that can amplify short-term flows but is not a direct corporate catalyst for MS itself. TipRanks: Morgan Stanley on CoreWeave
• Negative Sentiment: Reputational/legal risk — reporting that Morgan Stanley opened accounts for Epstein-related trusts as late as 2019 could raise regulatory or reputational questions and short-term investor caution, particularly if follow-up scrutiny or legal exposure emerges. Yahoo Finance: Morgan Stanley opened accounts for Epstein trusts
• Negative Sentiment: Cash-flow and insider activity flagged in the quarter — while EPS/revenue beat, cash from operating activities swung materially negative (reported roughly -$2.4B) and the company disclosed multiple insider stock sales in recent filings. Those items can temper enthusiasm and are reasons some investors may trim positions despite the headline beat. Morgan Stanley Q4 2025 earnings (Quiver)

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $175.25 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $94.33 and a twelve month high of $192.68. The stock has a market cap of $278.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $180.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $166.07.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted 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 16.92%. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. 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 report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $185.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, 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 value of $6,020,286.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 357,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,254,222.62. The trade was a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 8,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.08, for a total value of $1,547,680.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 119,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,690,826.24. This represents a 6.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.