Keybank National Association OH Raises Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Keybank National Association OH increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 244,291 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,577 shares during the quarter. Keybank National Association OH’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $43,369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,253,554,000 after buying an additional 1,361,940 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,321,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,343,523,000 after buying an additional 167,487 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,494,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,893,590,000 after buying an additional 448,960 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,260,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,267,847,000 after buying an additional 822,120 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.8% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,712,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,543,831,000 after buying an additional 354,871 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 110,444 shares of company stock worth $20,665,049 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group raised Morgan Stanley’s FY2026 and FY2027 EPS forecasts and reiterated a Buy stance — the firm boosted FY2026 to $11.93 and FY2027 to $12.77, which supports higher valuation expectations and helped lift sentiment. Erste Group raises MS EPS estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group (reported elsewhere) also upgraded MS from Hold to Buy — an outright analyst upgrade reinforces demand from institutional investors. Erste upgrades Morgan Stanley (Finviz link)
• Positive Sentiment: Firm commentary and research out of Morgan Stanley (MarketWatch coverage) is pitching a constructive market backdrop — management/research sees reduced downside risk and ongoing momentum from earnings, capex and AI adoption, which supports investment-banking and wealth-management flows. Why Morgan Stanley sees little possibility of a stock-market retreat
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader sell‑side attention — headlines highlighting Morgan Stanley’s research activity (price‑target updates on other companies) show the firm remains active and visible, which can drive trading volume but is not an immediate earnings signal for MS itself. MS research: price-target actions (example)
• Neutral Sentiment: Crypto/ETF timing commentary mentioning major institutional players (including MS) suggests participation in emerging product flows (e.g., Bitcoin ETF space), but analysts warn adoption will take 12–18 months — a medium-term potential revenue lift rather than an immediate catalyst. Bitcoin ETF institutional adoption timeline
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/geopolitical risk (oil/Strait of Hormuz disruption) increases market volatility — a sudden risk‑off move can pressure trading revenues and short‑term investor sentiment for banks including MS. Investors are watching macro headlines even as bank‑specific news is positive. Oil rises as talks stall — market risk

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Wolfe Research decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Daiwa Securities Group decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $201.89.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $190.19 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $300.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.19. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $112.03 and a 52-week high of $194.59. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $170.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $172.52. 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 (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 14.65%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.8 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.