Lido Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Lido Advisors LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 59.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 252,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 93,859 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $40,117,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MS. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 25.9% during the 2nd quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 9,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,408,000 after purchasing an additional 2,058 shares during the period. CFO4Life Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth $230,000. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 13.7% during the second quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $723,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.0% in the second quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: January quarter outperformance still supports the stock: Morgan Stanley reported an EPS beat and revenue growth (quarterly EPS $2.68 vs. $2.28 est.; revenue $17.90B). That strong print and solid ROE/margins remain a near-term underpinning for the share price.
• Positive Sentiment: Pro-research narrative on AI — Morgan Stanley research calling AI a macro force reinforces the firm’s thought-leadership and could help win institutional and wealth-management mandates tied to thematic investing and advisory. Morgan Stanley Warns AI Is Now a Macro Force
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley continues visible equity research and coverage activity (e.g., notes on Match Group and analyst price-target moves on other names). This keeps the firm front-and-center with institutional clients but is not an immediate earnings driver. Morgan Stanley ‘most constructive’ on Match Group shares in years
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley analysts continue to adjust ratings/price targets on coverage names (example: PT changes for Wyndham and Dell). Analyst activity signals engagement with clients but has mixed impact on MS’s trading operations. Morgan Stanley Cuts PT on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
• Negative Sentiment: Liquidity/reputational risk from private-credit gating: Morgan Stanley (alongside BlackRock) limited withdrawals from a private-credit fund after heavy redemptions (nearly 11% sought from the North Haven Private Income Fund). Markets view gating as stabilizing for illiquid strategies but it raises regulatory, client-retention and franchise-risk questions that can pressure the stock. Exclusive: Morgan Stanley And BlackRock Limit Withdrawals—Is Private Credit Gating A Crisis Or Market ‘Stabilizer’?
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is participating in virtual analyst/IR events (e.g., group meetings such as KEI Industries’ virtual analyst meet), reflecting ongoing investment-banking and research client activity — supportive for fee pipelines but not an immediate stock catalyst. KEI Industries Schedules Virtual Analyst Meet with Morgan Stanley

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $3,966,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 171,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,464,920. This represents a 11.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 15,838 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.77, for a total value of $2,942,225.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 135,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,135,424.08. This trade represents a 10.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $154.84 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $176.11 and a 200-day moving average of $168.39. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.33 and a 52-week high of $192.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $245.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.17, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results 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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.22 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MS. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Wall Street Zen raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $211.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Evercore downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Two equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.14.

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.