Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Sells 5,225 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH decreased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 302,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,225 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $48,121,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 178,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,454,000 after acquiring an additional 30,765 shares during the period. Constitution Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 185.0% in the third quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 4,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $725,000 after purchasing an additional 2,960 shares during the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 8,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,383,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Annex Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 322,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,318,000 after buying an additional 14,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ethic Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 185,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,506,000 after buying an additional 1,235 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of MS stock opened at $179.85 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $285.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.22. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year 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. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.14.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Barclays lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Wolfe Research raised Morgan Stanley from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $198.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $184.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.77.

Key Stores Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s research group named Western Digital (WDC) a 2026 top pick — a reminder that MS’s equity research is active and influential, supporting trading & investment-banking flow and recurring client engagement. Morgan Stanley Names Western Digital (WDC) a 2026 Top Pick Amid Cloud Capital Expenditure Boom
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage and analyst activity continue across sectors (healthcare, utilities, data centers), reinforcing MS’s research/revenue mix and institutional relationships—a structural positive for fee and trading businesses. Example coverage includes Zoetis, PG&E, Vistra and Grail. Zoetis (ZTS) Positioned Within Morgan Stanley’s 2026 Healthcare Playbook
• Neutral Sentiment: MS itself is in the headlines as a trending stock (investor attention can increase short-term volatility but isn’t a directional fundamental). Zacks and other outlets have recently highlighted MS for investor interest. Here is What to Know Beyond Why Morgan Stanley (MS) is a Trending Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple Morgan Stanley analyst notes (resumed coverage, target changes across consumer and financial names) signal ongoing research-driven flow but are company-agnostic for MS’s own stock in the near term. Example: resumed coverage of Unilever and target moves on Diageo/Manulife. Morgan Stanley Resumes Coverage of Unilever (UL) with an Overweight View
• Negative Sentiment: Institutional activity tied to Morgan Stanley shows portfolio trimming in some names (e.g., Morgan Stanley reduced its TSLA holdings in recent filings), which can create perception of risk-taking reduction or repositioning by MS-managed funds. That may weigh on sentiment for the firm’s asset-management/trading outlook. $TSLA stock is down 3% today. Here’s what we see in our data.
• Negative Sentiment: TipRanks reports Morgan Stanley ceased to be a substantial holder in West African Resources — a visible example of MS trimming positions that can feed short-term headlines and investor caution even if not material to MS’s financials. Morgan Stanley Ceases to Be Substantial Holder in West African Resources

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at $94,493,199.24. This represents a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.