Yousif Capital Management LLC Decreases Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 148,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,682 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $26,969,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Central Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 3,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $635,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 3,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $565,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $929,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earned Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $418,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $168.02 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $168.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.53. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $97.89 and a fifty-two week high of $192.68. The company has a market cap of $266.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.46, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.18%.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s spot Bitcoin ETF (MSBT) is set to launch on NYSE Arca on April 8 with an ultra?low 0.14% fee — the bank becomes the first major U.S. commercial bank to offer a spot Bitcoin ETF, which could attract substantial AUM, boost fee revenue and lift the firm’s asset?management profile. Morgan Stanley Bitcoin ETF Set for NYSE Debut This Wednesday
• Positive Sentiment: UBS upgraded MS to a Buy and set a $196 price target, citing profitability and wealth?management positioning — that upgrade is a near?term bullish catalyst for investor sentiment. Morgan Stanley Upgraded to Buy by UBS
• Positive Sentiment: Street notes (Jefferies) expect MS to benefit from a trading?volume surge and steady dealmaking — this supports expectations for a strong Q1 trading/markets quarter and underpins earnings momentum. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley seen riding trading boom
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is launching private?credit vehicles (an interval fund and a new fund aimed at dislocated private credit) and has Direct Lending updates — these product launches could grow fee income over time but also expose the bank to private?credit liquidity risk in the near term. Morgan Stanley Capitalizes On Private Credit Dislocation With New Fund
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Direct Lending set a Q1 results call — a signal investors should watch for fund performance and potential fee/AUM disclosures that could influence near?term revenue guidance. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Sets Q1 2026 Results Call
• Negative Sentiment: Several analysts trimmed Morgan Stanley price targets (Evercore and BMO to $190; Daiwa lowered to $175) even as Goldman raised its PT to $186 — the cluster of mixed target moves creates short?term headwinds and could cap upside while the market digests the ETF launch and Q1 outlook. Evercore Lowers Morgan Stanley Price Target to $190

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $3,966,120.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 171,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,464,920. This represents a 11.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.55, for a total value of $3,691,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 127,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,598,777.60. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $171.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $189.94.

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.