Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Gabelli Funds LLC

Gabelli Funds LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 214,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,440 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $34,176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 65.2% during the third quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC grew its stake in 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. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at about $38,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday. Dbs Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $157.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 15,838 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.77, for a total transaction of $2,942,225.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 135,304 shares in the company, valued at $25,135,424.08. This represents a 10.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 357,342 shares in the company, valued at $65,254,222.62. This represents a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $160.15 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $178.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.69. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $192.68. The firm has a market cap of $254.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 14.09%.Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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