Morgan Stanley $MS Stock Holdings Decreased by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 57,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,082 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $9,190,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 645.8% in the 2nd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 91.9% in the third quarter. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC now owns 213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 57.1% during the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Firm-level fundamentals/support — recent writeups emphasize Morgan Stanley’s strong Q4 results and a rebound in investment banking, which underpin valuation upside and give investors a reason to buy the dip. Valuation Check After Strong Q4
• Positive Sentiment: Business momentum — Morgan Stanley led power-sector M&A advisory in 2025, signalling strong deal activity and fee generation in its investment banking franchise. That performance can support revenue and trading/IB sentiment. MS tops power M&A in 2025
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry/regulatory backdrop — Reuters reports big U.S. banks ramped up lobbying last year as policy fights heat up in Washington; this raises regulatory risk attention for the sector but is not MS-specific. Banks boost Washington lobbying
• Neutral Sentiment: Small institutional buying — a regional adviser (Linscomb Wealth) reported a modest purchase of ~2,966 MS shares; useful signal of retail/adviser interest but too small to move the stock alone. Linscomb Wealth buys MS shares
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrade — Evercore ISI cut Morgan Stanley from “strong-buy” to “hold.” That downgrade is the most direct near-term negative catalyst listed and is likely the primary reason the stock is under pressure today as it lowers short-term demand from Evercore-aligned investors. Evercore ISI downgrades MS

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owned 357,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,254,222.62. The trade was a 8.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total value of $5,569,194.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 280,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,501,921.22. This represents a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506 in the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on MS. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $211.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Three equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS opened at $175.77 on Friday. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $180.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $163.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $279.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.20. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $192.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.18%.

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.