Schroder Investment Management Group Acquires 354,871 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,712,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 354,871 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley accounts for 1.2% of Schroder Investment Management Group’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,543,831,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 81.8% during the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 5,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $755,000 after purchasing an additional 2,412 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 44,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,212,000 after buying an additional 4,771 shares during the last quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at about $230,000. Finally, Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 10.5% in the second quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC now owns 2,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is advising on Pearson’s revised £350M buyback execution alongside Citi — a fee-generating capital?markets engagement that supports advisory revenue. Pearson Refines £350 Million Buyback With Citi And Morgan Stanley
• Positive Sentiment: Major banks including Morgan Stanley are moving toward Bitcoin integration — a potential growth area for wealth and institutional products that could expand fees and AUM over time. Crypto Weekend Round-Up
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s research team continues active coverage and re-rating of large names (e.g., upgrade of Novo Nordisk to Equal Weight) — reinforces MS’s research franchise but has limited direct impact on MS shares. Morgan Stanley Upgrades Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO) to Equal Weight From Underweight
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro research from MS (saying U.S. equity outperformance will continue) signals the firm’s market views and supports its wealth?management positioning, but it’s a thematic rather than a company?specific driver. Why Morgan Stanley says U.S. outperformance will continue
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley analysts continue to publish sector calls (e.g., maintaining a Sell on Rivian) — underscores active research/product flow but is not a material driver for MS equity itself. Rivian: Strategic Progress Undermined by Near?Term Demand, Execution, and Valuation Risks
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley announced a reduction of about 2,500 jobs (~3% of staff) as part of a broad restructuring — this should lower operating costs (positive for margins) but raises investor questions about sustainable revenue growth and the long?term impact on client coverage. Morgan Stanley Job Cuts Test Cost Efficiency And Long Term Growth Plan

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Friday, January 16th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.5%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $160.15 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $178.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $168.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-year high of $192.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $254.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 14.09%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.08, for a total value of $1,547,680.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 119,128 shares in the company, valued at $21,690,826.24. This represents a 6.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.55, for a total transaction of $3,691,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 127,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,598,777.60. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.