Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Hamlin Capital Management LLC

Hamlin Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,513,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,704 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up approximately 5.5% of Hamlin Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Hamlin Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Morgan Stanley worth $240,570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 103.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 12,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,019,000 after buying an additional 6,448 shares during the last quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 467,246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,273,000 after acquiring an additional 9,056 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 97.4% during 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. ABN Amro Investment Solutions boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 52.6% in the third quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 113,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,043,000 after acquiring an additional 39,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, A4 Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at approximately $855,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. HSBC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Two 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.14.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 357,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,254,222.62. This trade represents a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider owned 171,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,464,920. This represents a 11.19% decrease in their position. 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 quarter. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Selected as one of the Wall Street banks involved in a large Pentagon/defense financing initiative — a potential source of advisory fees and franchise work. Pentagon taps Morgan Stanley for defense initiative
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s research/public commentary on AI and macro trends keeps the firm visible to institutional clients and supports its wealth & investment‑management franchise positioning. That can help offset short‑term trading volatility. Morgan Stanley: AI Revolution Set to Disrupt Jobs and Energy Infrastructure
• Neutral Sentiment: Firm commentary on monetary policy (warning that rate cuts are unlikely soon) is driving market context rather than company-specific flows — it influences investor expectations for bank earnings broadly. Don’t Expect Interest Rate Cuts Anytime Soon, Says Morgan Stanley
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley trimmed a voting stake in Siemens Energy — a portfolio/positioning adjustment that is informational but not material to core operating results. Morgan Stanley Trims Siemens Energy Voting Stake
• Negative Sentiment: The primary near‑term driver: Morgan Stanley capped redemptions at its North Haven private‑income/private‑credit fund after investors requested ~10.9% in redemptions; the fund honored a 5% quarterly repurchase cap. That gating triggered investor concern about private‑credit liquidity and valuation transparency and was the proximate cause of a multi‑percent selloff in MS and other alternative‑asset managers. Morgan Stanley restricts redemptions at private credit fund
• Negative Sentiment: Private‑credit contagion and gating at other managers (Cliffwater, BlackRock coverage) amplified sector risk — investors rotated out of financials and alternative‑asset exposure on worries about defaults, liquidity and mark‑to‑model valuations. Morgan Stanley and Cliffwater limit private credit withdrawals (FT)
• Negative Sentiment: Negative sentiment was reinforced on social channels and media coverage, which likely exacerbated intraday selling pressure and short‑term volatility even though underlying wealth & advisory metrics remain more stable. Wall Street’s Own Stock Is Getting Hammered on Reddit

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of MS stock opened at $154.84 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $245.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 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. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $176.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $168.39.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 39.18%.

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.