Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 170,124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,810 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $27,043,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MS. Donaldson Capital Management LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the third quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 467,246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,273,000 after buying an additional 9,056 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 97.4% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 22,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,644,000 after acquiring an additional 11,311 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 21,458 shares during the last quarter. A4 Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at about $855,000. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 157,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,048,000 after purchasing an additional 5,876 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $211.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS opened at $177.46 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $180.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $166.91. The firm has a market cap of $281.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $192.68.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 39.18%.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is building a full-stack digital-asset business (custody, trading, bitcoin lending and yield products). That expands fee opportunities outside traditional banking/wealth management and positions MS to capture growing institutional/wealth client demand for crypto services if compliance and execution go smoothly. Morgan Stanley Explores Full-Stack Digital Asset Services, Including Bitcoin Lending
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and coverage note MS’s strong liquidity cushion and explicit capital-return capacity: Zacks highlights ~$386B average liquidity, an 8% dividend bump and ~$17.4B remaining under the $20B buyback authorization — supportive for shareholder returns and a near-term tailwind for the share price. Does Morgan Stanley’s Liquidity Cushion Support Its Capital Returns?
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (MSDL) posted Q4 results and declared a dividend — a pick‑up for yield‑seeking investors and a reminder of fee/cash-generating businesses inside the MS ecosystem. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Posts Q4 Results, Declares Dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley research is getting attention — a note that AI capex is driving strong EM earnings boosts the firm’s positioning as a thought leader, which can attract investment-banking and asset-management flows over time but is not an immediate earnings lever. AI capex fuelling strongest EM earnings in two decades, MS says
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary notes Morgan Stanley has recently outperformed the S&P 500 and that analysts are moderately constructive — positive for sentiment but not a catalyst on its own. Is Morgan Stanley Stock Outperforming the S&P 500?
• Negative Sentiment: Execution and regulatory risk on crypto/digital-asset expansion remain real — new product lines raise operational, compliance and reputational risks that could weigh on costs or invitations for regulatory scrutiny. Investors should weigh upside from new revenue streams against these risks. Morgan Stanley Explores Full-Stack Digital Asset Services, Including Bitcoin Lending

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $3,966,120.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 171,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,464,920. The trade was a 11.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total value of $5,569,194.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 280,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,501,921.22. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506 in the last quarter. 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.