SevenBridge Financial Group LLC Boosts Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

SevenBridge Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,607 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley comprises 1.2% of SevenBridge Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $7,411,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $2,234,883,000. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 23.4% in the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,357,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,318,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,776,544 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 319.7% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,092,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $294,727,000 after purchasing an additional 1,593,774 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 18.1% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,623,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,355,537,000 after purchasing an additional 1,476,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,123,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,779,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354,142 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on MS. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a report on Friday, January 16th. 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. HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.61, for a total value of $6,020,286.48. Following the transaction, the insider owned 357,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,254,222.62. This represents a 8.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total value of $5,569,194.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 280,481 shares in the company, valued at $51,501,921.22. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506 over the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $160.88 on Thursday. 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 has a 52-week low of $94.33 and a 52-week high of $192.68. The company has a market capitalization of $255.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50 day moving average of $177.12 and a 200 day moving average of $168.18.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 39.18%.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is hiring contract staff in Hong Kong to handle a surge in IPOs and listings — a sign of stronger investment‑banking deal flow in Asia that could boost fees if activity continues. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Street support: at least one major bank recently nudged Morgan Stanley’s modeled upside (price‑target lift noted in market reports), which can attract buyers and help underpin the stock in the near term.
• Neutral Sentiment: Strategic initiatives and partnerships (EquityZen buyout, crypto custody tie‑ups, conference presentations) are being highlighted by coverage as longer‑term growth levers for wealth and markets businesses; these are strategic positives but take time to show through in results. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley restricted redemptions at one of its private‑credit funds after investors sought to withdraw ~11% of the fund — a liquidity/flow strain that raises questions about mark‑to‑market, client confidence, and potential reputational or capital impacts for the direct‑lending franchise. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Independent coverage and investor pieces are flagging risks in the direct‑lending / private‑credit business (discounts to NAV, yield dynamics), which could pressure valuations or fund distributions if outflows continue. Article Title

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.