Deutsche Bank AG Lowers Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Deutsche Bank AG cut its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,003,926 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,795 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG owned 0.25% of Morgan Stanley worth $710,817,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,855.6% during the 4th quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, High Note Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 59.8% during the 4th quarter. High Note Wealth LLC now owns 187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $210.21 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $331.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.04, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $190.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $179.89. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $128.81 and a twelve month high of $219.16.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 36.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. Zacks Research cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.95.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley remains constructive on several financial and growth names, including recent bullish calls on companies like Cloudflare and American Airlines, reinforcing the bank’s active role in shaping market expectations. Morgan Stanley Lifts PT on Cloudflare (NET)
• Positive Sentiment: The company said it is “wide awake” to acquisition opportunities, which can support optimism that Morgan Stanley could pursue strategic M&A if conditions improve. Morgan Stanley ‘wide awake’ to acquisition opportunities, CEO says
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded Morgan Stanley (MS) to a Buy-equivalent ranking, citing improving earnings prospects. Morgan Stanley (MS) Upgraded to Buy: Here’s Why
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley presented at the U.S. Financials Conference 2026, which keeps investor attention on the bank’s capital markets and wealth-management strategy rather than on a single earnings event. Morgan Stanley (MS) Presents at US Financials Conference 2026 Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market risk-off trading and fading rate-cut expectations are pressuring financials and other rate-sensitive names, which can weigh on Morgan Stanley even without a bad company headline.

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.