Rathbones Group PLC Grows Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Rathbones Group PLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 771,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,074 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $122,704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 103.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 12,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,019,000 after buying an additional 6,448 shares during the period. Donaldson Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 467,246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,273,000 after buying an additional 9,056 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 97.4% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 22,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,644,000 after buying an additional 11,311 shares during the period. A4 Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth $855,000. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.8% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 581,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,407,000 after acquiring an additional 21,458 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $160.15 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $178.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.85. The company has a market capitalization 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. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $94.33 and a twelve month high of $192.68. 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 (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.40. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Evercore lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $157.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $211.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 357,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,254,222.62. The trade was a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $3,966,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 171,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,464,920. This represents a 11.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.