Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Gradient Investments LLC

Gradient Investments LLC reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 329,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,305 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley accounts for 0.9% of Gradient Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $58,543,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,059,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 11,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,990,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 47,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,454,000 after purchasing an additional 4,811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tuttle Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $766,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley formally advanced its spot Bitcoin ETF registration (ticker MSBT), disclosing $1M seed capital, planned NYSE Arca listing, custodial partners (Coinbase/BNY Mellon) and named authorized participants — a potential new product that could bring fee revenue, increase client asset flows and reinforce MS’s digital-asset positioning. Morgan Stanley advances MSBT Bitcoin ETF with amended SEC filing
• Neutral Sentiment: MS research is publishing macro downside scenarios (e.g., elevated European gas risk and earlier ECB hikes) and revised rate‑cut timing — these calls can drive market volatility and trading flows that affect MS’s trading & principal revenues but are not direct corporate fundamentals. Europe gas refill risks rise; MS flags €90 TTF scenario
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley limited redemptions in a private‑credit vehicle and publicly flagged rising default/liquidity risk in parts of private credit — a near‑term negative for asset‑management fee stability, client confidence and potential reputational risk if outflows/credit losses broaden. Investors may be re‑pricing wealth & asset‑management exposure. Morgan Stanley Tests Private Credit Liquidity As AI Risks Surface

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MS. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a report on Friday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $211.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.14.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $161.47 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $256.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 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. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $173.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.70. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $192.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 14.09%.Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.22 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors 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 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 39.18%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were 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 $23,598,777.60. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $65,254,222.62. This represents a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.