Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Cardano Risk Management B.V.

Cardano Risk Management B.V. lowered its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 508,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 46,237 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $106,229,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,253,554,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361,940 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 103,854,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,437,334,000 after purchasing an additional 539,544 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,070,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,786,350,000 after purchasing an additional 534,708 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,018,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,441,505,000 after purchasing an additional 524,189 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,326,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,686,881,000 after purchasing an additional 87,533 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.2%

MS stock opened at $216.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $341.06 billion, a PE ratio of 17.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $216.53 and its 200 day moving average is $191.84. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $141.03 and a one year high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.31%. The business had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.19%.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley hired Adam Kweskin, a diversified-industries banker from Bank of America, to join its Global Industrials Investment Banking Group. The addition could strengthen the firm’s dealmaking capacity and support investment-banking fees if corporate activity remains robust. Morgan Stanley hires BofA’s Kweskin to cover diversified industries
• Positive Sentiment: Reports highlighted improving capital-markets conditions and continued strength in Morgan Stanley’s wealth-management business, reinforcing the investment case for its more diversified revenue mix. Why Is Wealth Management Anchoring Morgan Stanley?
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley-led banks are reportedly preparing to distribute approximately $15 billion of debt associated with a Google-backed Anthropic data center. The transaction underscores Morgan Stanley’s opportunity to generate fees from the rapidly expanding artificial-intelligence infrastructure financing market. Morgan Stanley-led banks to offload debt tied to Anthropic data center
• Neutral Sentiment: Approval of a key element of Morgan Stanley’s proposed billion-dollar Dallas regional hub represents a long-term investment in its operating footprint, though the project is not expected to materially affect near-term earnings. Morgan Stanley’s possible downtown hub gets sign approval
• Neutral Sentiment: The firm’s second-quarter Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund update provides additional visibility into its private-credit platform, but the available report does not include enough detail to determine a meaningful impact on MS valuation. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund Posts Q2 2026 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Another Morgan Stanley banker reportedly moved to Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC, highlighting the ongoing risk of losing experienced dealmakers as global energy and investment activity intensifies. Another Morgan Stanley Banker Lands Top Investment Role at ADNOC

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Daiwa Securities Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.75.

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.