Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. Buys 89,686 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 20.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 521,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 89,686 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up 1.6% of Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $82,971,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,123,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,779,734,000 after buying an additional 1,354,142 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,045,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,387,005,000 after acquiring an additional 749,150 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $2,234,883,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,438,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,894,023,000 after purchasing an additional 374,711 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.3% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,980,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,546,659,000 after purchasing an additional 28,420 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Stores Impacting Morgan Stanley

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)

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

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

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $177.47 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $182.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $170.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $155.80. The company has a market cap of $282.05 billion, a PE ratio of 18.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.40%. The company had revenue of $17.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. Wolfe Research raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $198.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” 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 stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $184.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.77.

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.