Korea Investment CORP Decreases Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Korea Investment CORP reduced its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 789,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 156,109 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $125,510,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth $2,234,883,000. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 23.4% during the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,357,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,318,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,776,544 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 319.7% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,092,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $294,727,000 after purchasing an additional 1,593,774 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,623,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,355,537,000 after purchasing an additional 1,476,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,123,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,779,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354,142 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.61, for a total transaction 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 represents a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total transaction of $5,569,194.60. Following the sale, the insider owned 280,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,501,921.22. This represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $160.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $254.30 billion, a PE ratio of 15.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $178.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.33 and a 52-week high of $192.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 14.09%.Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.22 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $211.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley filed an updated S?1 / SEC amendment advancing its planned spot Bitcoin ETF (naming Coinbase custody and BNY Mellon roles). That materially increases the firm’s potential fee pool (trading, custody, securities lending) if approved — a strategic growth lever beyond traditional banking. Morgan Stanley Files Updated SEC Amendment for Spot Bitcoin ETF Launch
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley provided financing (initial $500M, expandable to $1B) to Core Scientific for data center/AI infrastructure, demonstrating growth in corporate lending and structured finance opportunities tied to AI/crypto infrastructure. That can add fee and interest income if credit performance holds. Core Scientific secures up to $1B credit from Morgan Stanley for data centers
• Neutral Sentiment: Public commentary from Morgan Stanley events (tech/AI conferences) keeps the firm visible as an advisor/market?maker in tech and AI financing; useful for long?term franchise positioning but not an immediate earnings surprise. Morgan Stanley’s top tech banker: It’s ‘wartime, not peacetime’ for software
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley announced cuts of roughly 2,500 roles (~3% of workforce) across divisions. Markets often react negatively to broad layoffs because they signal restructuring risk, potential disruption to revenue growth and near?term execution uncertainty even if they imply future cost savings. Morgan Stanley Sheds 2,500 Employees in Companywide Layoffs
• Negative Sentiment: Investor flow appears to favor trimming MS exposure amid the headlines; analysts and market commentators are re?assessing near?term margins and execution risk despite record revenues in 2025 — producing downward pressure on the share price today. Morgan Stanley Cuts 3% Workforce Despite Record Revenues in 2025

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.