Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Trims Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL cut its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 115,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,020 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $20,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 69.0% during the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 8,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,263,000 after purchasing an additional 3,661 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 90.9% during the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,378,000 after purchasing an additional 7,688 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 6.3% during the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 263,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,127,000 after purchasing an additional 15,623 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 7.8% during the second quarter. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC now owns 52,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,805,000 after purchasing an additional 3,807 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s own analysis of broader markets remains constructive, with strategists saying equities still have upside support from AI-driven growth and employment trends, even as they flag recession and bond-market risks. That keeps the firm visible in the ongoing AI-led market narrative. Morgan Stanley Remains Bullish on Equities While Flagging Recession Risks Ahead
• Positive Sentiment: The bank also helped fuel bullish sentiment in semiconductors by raising its revenue estimate for Nvidia ahead of earnings and highlighting continued upside potential, reinforcing Morgan Stanley’s influence in high-profile growth themes that investors are still rewarding. Morgan Stanley Lifts Nvidia Stock (NVDA) Price Target Ahead of Q1 Earnings, Sees ‘Continued Upside to Numbers’
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent market headlines show Morgan Stanley-linked commentary spanning everything from AI infrastructure to energy and utilities, suggesting the bank is well positioned around major investor themes, though none of these articles directly change MS fundamentals today.
• Negative Sentiment: At the same time, the firm warned that a bond selloff could trigger a meaningful stock-market correction. That caution may temper enthusiasm and explains why any move higher in Morgan Stanley (MS) is modest rather than explosive. Morgan Stanley’s Wilson Warns Stock Rally at Risk From Bond Rout

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $192.71 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $123.88 and a one year high of $197.50. The company has a market cap of $303.96 billion, a PE ratio of 17.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $176.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.16.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 36.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $173.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Dbs Bank boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.26.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total value of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 over the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.