2,969 Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 261,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,969 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $49,142,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 143.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Atlatl Advisers LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 55.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC now owns 137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Security National Bank of SO Dak purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 297.4% in the 2nd quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $243.00 to $195.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Bank of America increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Freedom Capital upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.62.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong deal activity supports investment-banking momentum. Morgan Stanley ranked among the leading advisers by deal value in the automotive, technology, media and telecom, and power sectors during the first three quarters of 2026. Sustained M&A activity could support advisory-fee revenue. Mitsubishi UFJ and Morgan Stanley lead automotive M&A financial advisers’ list Morgan Stanley leads TMT M&A advisers
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is participating in a large AI infrastructure financing. The firm is part of a reported $63 billion financing structure involving Blackstone, Bank of America, and Citigroup to fund AI computing equipment leased to Anthropic. The transaction may create fee income and reinforce MS’s position in rapidly growing AI-related capital markets. Wall Street’s New $63 Billion AI Deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst visibility remains high, but investor attention is focused on valuation. Morgan Stanley was among the most-watched stocks on Zacks, while commentary questioned whether its strong multiyear rally and current valuation are justified by returns on capital and future earnings growth. Shares were recently below both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages, signaling continued technical pressure.
• Negative Sentiment: AI exposure also introduces risk concerns. Commentary on the Anthropic financing warned that lenders and investors could face losses if AI hardware becomes obsolete, utilization disappoints, or AI-related valuations decline. Such concerns may weigh on sentiment toward MS even though the deal offers potential fee opportunities. Can Morgan Stanley Justify Its Price After AI Deal Wins?

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $184.38 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $198.11 and its 200 day moving average is $194.29. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $152.80 and a 12 month high of $232.25. The company has a market capitalization of $290.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $20.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.93 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 15.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.80 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 36.51%.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, institutions, governments and individual investors. Founded in 1935, the company is headquartered in New York City and serves clients through operations across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other international markets.

Through its Institutional Securities segment, Morgan Stanley offers investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading, research, lending and related capital-markets services.