Prudential PLC Sells 19,691 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Prudential PLC lessened its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 13.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 124,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 19,691 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $19,767,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tepp RIA LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.0% in the third quarter. Tepp RIA LLC now owns 2,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the third quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 69,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,653 shares in the last quarter. United Financial Planning Group LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at approximately $93,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 242.7% during the 3rd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 23,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,697,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 127,872 shares in the company, valued at $23,598,777.60. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 sale, the insider directly owned 357,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,254,222.62. This trade represents a 8.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $154.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $192.68. The stock has a market cap of $245.87 billion, a PE ratio of 15.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $168.13.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.18%.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Selected as one of the Wall Street banks involved in a large Pentagon/defense financing initiative — a potential source of advisory fees and franchise work. Pentagon taps Morgan Stanley for defense initiative
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s research/public commentary on AI and macro trends keeps the firm visible to institutional clients and supports its wealth & investment‑management franchise positioning. That can help offset short‑term trading volatility. Morgan Stanley: AI Revolution Set to Disrupt Jobs and Energy Infrastructure
• Neutral Sentiment: Firm commentary on monetary policy (warning that rate cuts are unlikely soon) is driving market context rather than company-specific flows — it influences investor expectations for bank earnings broadly. Don’t Expect Interest Rate Cuts Anytime Soon, Says Morgan Stanley
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley trimmed a voting stake in Siemens Energy — a portfolio/positioning adjustment that is informational but not material to core operating results. Morgan Stanley Trims Siemens Energy Voting Stake
• Negative Sentiment: The primary near‑term driver: Morgan Stanley capped redemptions at its North Haven private‑income/private‑credit fund after investors requested ~10.9% in redemptions; the fund honored a 5% quarterly repurchase cap. That gating triggered investor concern about private‑credit liquidity and valuation transparency and was the proximate cause of a multi‑percent selloff in MS and other alternative‑asset managers. Morgan Stanley restricts redemptions at private credit fund
• Negative Sentiment: Private‑credit contagion and gating at other managers (Cliffwater, BlackRock coverage) amplified sector risk — investors rotated out of financials and alternative‑asset exposure on worries about defaults, liquidity and mark‑to‑model valuations. Morgan Stanley and Cliffwater limit private credit withdrawals (FT)
• Negative Sentiment: Negative sentiment was reinforced on social channels and media coverage, which likely exacerbated intraday selling pressure and short‑term volatility even though underlying wealth & advisory metrics remain more stable. Wall Street’s Own Stock Is Getting Hammered on Reddit

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. HSBC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $173.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.14.

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.