Maple Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Maple Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 221,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,331 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley accounts for about 2.5% of Maple Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Maple Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $39,376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,253,554,000 after buying an additional 1,361,940 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 167,487 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 448,960 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 822,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 354,871 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.17.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is piloting spot crypto trading on its E*Trade retail platform (charging ~50 bps per trade) with plans to scale to ~8.6M users — a new recurring fee engine that could lift retail trading revenue, drive client engagement and pressure rivals’ pricing. Morgan Stanley Undercuts Coinbase, Robinhood On BTC, ETH, SOL Trading Fees
• Positive Sentiment: Daiwa Securities raised its MS price target to $198 (from $175) — an analyst move that signals improved expectations for earnings and supports valuation momentum. Daiwa Securities Adjusts Price Target on Morgan Stanley to $198
• Positive Sentiment: MS led construction‑sector M&A advisory by deal value in Q1, highlighting strong investment‑banking activity in a sizable vertical (supporting fee pools). This underscores ongoing IB strength beyond macro headlines. Morgan Stanley tops construction sector M&A rankings by value in Q1 2026
• Positive Sentiment: MS became the first international bank to join Abu Dhabi’s ADX as a Remote Trading Member — a distribution/markets expansion that may widen institutional client access to Middle East liquidity and strengthen global markets revenue. ADX welcomes Morgan Stanley as the first international investment bank Remote Trading Member
• Neutral Sentiment: Firm research (on AI capex and commodities) continues to influence markets — helpful for MS’s institutional/research franchise but not an immediate earnings driver for the stock. Useful context for cyclical IB and capital‑markets flows. Morgan Stanley sees big-tech AI capex surge
• Negative Sentiment: The Wall Street Journal and Reuters report a U.S. probe into Morgan Stanley’s Budapest investment‑banking program — a regulatory issue that could carry operational and reputational risk depending on scope and findings; investors should monitor disclosures and any potential fines or business impacts. Morgan Stanley investment banking program in Budapest hit by U.S. probe

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $193.13 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $172.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.42. The stock has a market cap of $305.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.49, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $118.20 and a 52 week high of $194.83.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.23%.

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.