Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Boosts Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 109.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 190,438 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 99,328 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $30,272,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 65.2% in the third quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 91.9% during the third quarter. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC now owns 213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat Wall Street on both EPS and revenue, with year‑over‑year revenue and profit growth — supporting MS’s valuation and dividend story. The release also highlighted strong operating profit and ROE, reinforcing investor confidence in the core wealth & institutional franchises. Article
• Positive Sentiment: EquityZen (a Morgan Stanley unit) cut transaction fees — a commercial move that should help win volume and improve competitiveness in the private markets platform over time. This supports MS’s fee-income growth narrative. Article
• Positive Sentiment: Research / strategy narrative: Morgan Stanley is publicly tying crypto, AI and securitization themes into its valuation story — useful for positioning the bank’s investment banking, asset management and capital solutions businesses ahead of secular flows. That thematic framing can support multiple revenue streams. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst activity from Morgan Stanley (price-target/coverage moves on companies such as Arista, Walmart and others) highlights the strength of MS’s research franchise — a credibility + distribution positive for investment-banking flow but not an immediate driver of MS stock performance. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Corporate calendar: Morgan Stanley scheduled its next investor conference call for Jan 14, 2027 — routine but useful for forward guidance and investor access. Article
• Negative Sentiment: Reputational/legal risk: reporting that Morgan Stanley opened accounts for Epstein trusts as late as 2019 introduces potential reputational scrutiny and could invite regulatory or legal questions; that risk can weigh on near‑term sentiment even if financial exposure is limited. Article
• Negative Sentiment: Cash-flow weakness flagged in Q4 — cash from operations swung negative (~-$2.4B) despite earnings and revenue beats. Investors will watch whether this is a one-off working-capital pattern or a recurring issue that could pressure capital deployment and buybacks. Article
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: recent filings show multiple senior executives sold shares in the period after earnings — a potential signal investors monitor, though routine selling by executives is common and may be for diversification/liquidity. Article

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $211.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $207.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $174.31 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $192.68. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $180.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $165.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $277.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.40. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.92% and a net margin of 14.09%.The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.18%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.61, for a total transaction of $6,020,286.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 357,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,254,222.62. This represents a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.55, for a total transaction of $3,691,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 127,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,598,777.60. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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.