Korea Investment CORP Reduces Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Korea Investment CORP reduced its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 785,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,347 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $139,400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 69.0% during the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 8,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,263,000 after purchasing an additional 3,661 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 90.9% during the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,378,000 after purchasing an additional 7,688 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 6.3% in the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 263,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,127,000 after buying an additional 15,623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 7.8% in the second quarter. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC now owns 52,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,805,000 after buying an additional 3,807 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $207.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.35.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $214.19 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $337.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $193.73 and a 200 day moving average of $180.84. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $128.81 and a twelve month high of $219.16.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 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, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target on Morgan Stanley to $187 from $179 while keeping a neutral rating, signaling improved expectations even though the new target still implies downside from current levels.
• Positive Sentiment: Media coverage highlighted Morgan Stanley’s “wide awake” posture on M&A opportunities as the bank pursues a $10 trillion wealth-management ambition, which could support longer-term growth through acquisitions in advisors, private markets, and alternatives.
• Positive Sentiment: Additional reports emphasized Morgan Stanley’s continued strength in wealth management and its willingness to expand through inorganic growth, reinforcing the market’s view that the firm has multiple avenues for revenue growth.
• Neutral Sentiment: One article noted Morgan Stanley’s stock has climbed near its 52-week high, which may be drawing attention to valuation and limiting upside in the near term.
• Neutral Sentiment: Erste Group slightly lowered its FY2026 EPS estimate to $11.97 from $12.00, a minor change that does not appear to have altered the broader bullish tone.
• Negative Sentiment: Some market commentary continues to frame Morgan Stanley’s valuation as stretched after a strong rally, and the stock’s proximity to its 52-week high may prompt profit-taking.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,209,159.78. This trade represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley 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.