Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Has $71.60 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 450,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,940 shares during the period. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $71,601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,354,142 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,045,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,387,005,000 after purchasing an additional 749,150 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,234,883,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,438,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,894,023,000 after purchasing an additional 374,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 28,420 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 357,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,254,222.62. The trade was a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 280,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,501,921.22. The trade was a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE:MS opened at $175.25 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $278.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $180.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.25. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.33 and a 52-week high of $192.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 39.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Barclays raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.93.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 2025 earnings beat — Morgan Stanley reported $2.68 diluted EPS (above $2.28 consensus) and $17.9B revenue (above consensus), with profit and ROE improving versus year-ago results. That beat supports valuation multiples and investor confidence in core businesses. Morgan Stanley Q4 2025 earnings (Quiver)
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Wealth Management is cutting transaction fees on private-share trading via its EquityZen marketplace, widening access to private markets for clients and potentially increasing platform volume and AUM-driven fees over time. This is a strategic, client-facing fee action that supports recurring fee growth. MS press release: EquityZen fee reduction
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional positioning and research influence — filings and press coverage show Morgan Stanley increasing certain crypto-related stakes (e.g., BitMine) and remaining active with analyst coverage (initiations/ratings across GE, CoreWeave, etc.). These activities highlight diversified revenue/alpha generation but carry mixed risk/reward. Wall Street boosts Bitmine stakes (Cointelegraph)
• Neutral Sentiment: Research calls can move sectors — recent Morgan Stanley analyst notes (e.g., cautious stance ahead of CoreWeave earnings, new coverage of GE Aerospace) underscore the firm’s market influence; that can amplify short-term flows but is not a direct corporate catalyst for MS itself. TipRanks: Morgan Stanley on CoreWeave
• Negative Sentiment: Reputational/legal risk — reporting that Morgan Stanley opened accounts for Epstein-related trusts as late as 2019 could raise regulatory or reputational questions and short-term investor caution, particularly if follow-up scrutiny or legal exposure emerges. Yahoo Finance: Morgan Stanley opened accounts for Epstein trusts
• Negative Sentiment: Cash-flow and insider activity flagged in the quarter — while EPS/revenue beat, cash from operating activities swung materially negative (reported roughly -$2.4B) and the company disclosed multiple insider stock sales in recent filings. Those items can temper enthusiasm and are reasons some investors may trim positions despite the headline beat. Morgan Stanley Q4 2025 earnings (Quiver)

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.