Smith Salley Wealth Management Has $4.09 Million Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Smith Salley Wealth Management lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 20.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,375 shares during the period. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,092,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lewis Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.0% in the third quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 1,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 77.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 18,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,922,000 after acquiring an additional 7,999 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Weaver Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $360,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 63.9% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 48,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,669,000 after purchasing an additional 18,800 shares during the period. 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 is serving as the intermediary on Nordea’s ongoing multi-market buyback — a sign of fee-generating investment‑banking/markets activity and institutional relationships that support non‑interest revenue. Nordea Continues Multi-Market Share Buyback with Morgan Stanley as Intermediary
• Positive Sentiment: The firm’s research is visible: Morgan Stanley named Western Digital a 2026 Top Pick and continues to publish influential coverage across sectors — this helps drive trading flows and strengthens MS’s research franchise (supporting recurring client activity). Morgan Stanley Names Western Digital (WDC) a 2026 Top Pick Amid Cloud Capital Expenditure Boom
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary and coverage (Zacks pieces calling MS a momentum/trending stock) may attract retail and quant flows into MS shares, supporting demand over short horizons. Morgan Stanley (MS) is a Great Momentum Stock: Should You Buy?
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley executed a large bulk buy in India (Ramkrishna Forgings, ~Rs95 crore) — evidence of active trading/EM execution desk activity but not material to MS’s overall results. Ramkrishna Forgings bulk deal: Morgan Stanley buys shares worth Rs 95 crore
• Neutral Sentiment: MS research revised coverage on other names (example: reduced PayPal price target) — shows active, sometimes cautious, analyst positioning that can influence client trading but is not a direct earnings signal for MS itself. Morgan Stanley Reduces Price Target on PayPal Holdings (PYPL)
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market pressure from mega-cap technology and cyclical movers (NVDA, TSLA and others) has dragged large-cap indices and ETFs — that spillover often weighs on bank/financial stocks like MS as traders de‑risk positions into year‑end. VOO is down 0.4% today, on NVDA stock price movement

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $178.99 on Wednesday. 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 50 day moving average of $169.74 and a 200 day moving average of $155.49. The stock has a market cap of $284.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.22. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $182.34.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.40% and a net margin of 13.85%.The firm had revenue of $17.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 41.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $198.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, November 24th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.77.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.