SteelPeak Wealth LLC Has $8.44 Million Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

SteelPeak Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 115.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 53,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 28,454 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 97.4% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 22,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,644,000 after purchasing an additional 11,311 shares in the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 45.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 30,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,905,000 after purchasing an additional 9,619 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 6,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. Calamos Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 87,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,867,000 after buying an additional 9,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 25.9% in the 2nd quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 9,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,408,000 after buying an additional 2,058 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. This represents a 14.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s research group continues to move markets — the firm has been active naming core selections and upgrading coverage (examples include Seagate and UiPath), which supports recurring investment-banking/research revenue and reinforces MS’s market influence. Morgan Stanley Names Seagate Core 2026 Selection Morgan Stanley Upgrades UiPath
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley research continues to influence sector narratives (e.g., naming Micron a top AI semiconductor pick) and publishing macro/industry forecasts (including AI-related banking job impacts); these reports boost MS’s franchise credibility but are not immediate drivers of MS share moves. The Best AI Semiconductor Stock to Buy for 2026 AI forecast to put 200,000 European banking jobs at risk
• Negative Sentiment: A critical Seeking Alpha piece flags ongoing disappointment at Morgan Stanley Direct Lending (MSDL), raising concerns about asset performance and potential pressure on fee/asset-growth assumptions for MS’s asset management segment — this is a direct negative catalyst for the stock. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending: Continues To Disappoint Going Into 2026
• Negative Sentiment: Recent coverage highlights analyst disagreement on Morgan Stanley’s outlook vs. peers; mixed analyst views can amplify intraday weakness and uncertainty around valuation. Analysts Conflicted on These Financial Names: Morgan Stanley (MS) and Citigroup (C)

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on MS. Dbs Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.77.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $177.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $282.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $170.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.80. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $182.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. The business had revenue of $17.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.40% and a net margin of 13.85%.The business’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.88 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.03%.

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.