K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Lowers Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc reduced its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 15.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,200 shares during the period. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,045,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,387,005,000 after buying an additional 749,150 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,234,883,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the second 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. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.3% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a report on Friday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $157.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 2.9%

MS opened at $173.76 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $192.68. 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $179.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $275.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.02, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. The company 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%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.22 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. 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 payout ratio is currently 39.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 15,838 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 135,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,135,424.08. The trade was a 10.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was 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 directly owned 357,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,254,222.62. This represents a 8.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506 over the last quarter. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Balance-sheet strength supports capital returns — Morgan Stanley reported a large liquidity cushion (about $385.9B average at 2025 year-end), an 8% dividend increase and still roughly $17.4B available under its $20B buyback program, which underpins shareholder returns and investor confidence. Does Morgan Stanley’s Liquidity Cushion Support Its Capital Returns?
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Investment Management activity — MSCP (the firm’s private equity arm) announced the acquisition of Security 101, signaling ongoing deal-flow and fee/carry generation from private markets that help diversify revenue. Morgan Stanley Capital Partners Acquires Security 101
• Positive Sentiment: Underlying fundamentals remain solid — Morgan Stanley’s most recent quarter beat consensus (Q4 EPS $2.68 vs. $2.28; revenue $17.9B vs. $17.69B) with double-digit revenue growth and healthy ROE, supporting the valuation multiple investors assign to a diversified bank/wealth franchise.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market attention and relative performance — coverage notes MS has been outperforming the S&P and drawing heavy investor searches, which can amplify intraday flows but isn’t a fundamental change. Is Morgan Stanley Stock Outperforming the S&P 500?
• Neutral Sentiment: Portfolio/holdings changes — Morgan Stanley (or its units) has adjusted positions in external names (e.g., ceasing to be a substantial holder in certain stocks); this reflects normal asset-management activity and is not company-operating news. Morgan Stanley Ceases to Be Substantial Holder in PLS Group
• Negative Sentiment: Cost pressure from advisor recruiting — reporting highlights that advisor-recruiting costs at Morgan Stanley have risen and could weigh on near-term profitability, a headwind to margins investors should monitor. Morgan Stanley’s Advisor Recruiting Costs Pile Up

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.