10,000 Shares in Morgan Stanley $MS Bought by Strive Asset Management LLC

Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 10,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,590,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at about $909,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,294,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 11,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,776,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,494,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,893,590,000 after buying an additional 448,960 shares during the period. Finally, Journey Strategic Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 8,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,300,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total value of $5,569,194.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 280,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,501,921.22. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 8,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.08, for a total value of $1,547,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 119,128 shares in the company, valued at $21,690,826.24. The trade was a 6.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506 in the last ninety days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is pursuing an OCC national trust bank / digital-asset trust charter to custody crypto under federal oversight — a strategic push that could expand custody revenue, attract institutional crypto assets under management, and reduce reliance on third parties. This is a tangible new-fee opportunity for MS’s wealth & custody franchises. MS Seeks National Trust Bank Charter (Zacks)
• Positive Sentiment: MS equity strategists reaffirm a bullish stance on U.S. stocks and highlight healthcare as the best defensive sector amid geopolitical noise — messaging that supports asset-management flows and advisory revenue if clients follow that guidance. Continued optimism from MS research can help firm AUM and trading volumes. Morgan Stanley stays bullish on US stocks (Proactive)
• Neutral Sentiment: E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley published its monthly sector-rotation data — a product that influences retail client positioning and could modestly affect trading revenue and client flows but is not a direct corporate earnings driver. E*TRADE Monthly Sector Rotation Study (FinancialPost)
• Neutral Sentiment: MS research named Citigroup a top pick and raised its price target — a sign of the strength and visibility of MS’s research team (beneficial for franchise reputation, but only indirectly impacts MS’s own fundamentals). Morgan Stanley Names Citigroup Top Pick (Yahoo)
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s Direct Lending Fund (MSDL) and other fund-level updates were released — useful for fixed?income and alternative investors tracking yield/credit exposure but not an immediate lever on MS parent stock absent material surprises. MS Direct Lending Fund Update (TipRanks)
• Neutral Sentiment: MS is hosting corporate events (example: a virtual India materials seminar where companies like Dalmia Bharat present) — such conferences support investment-banking/ECM deal flow and research distribution over time, but are incremental near-term drivers. Dalmia Bharat to Join MS Virtual Seminar (TipRanks)
• Negative Sentiment: One of MS’s senior strategists made a blunt comment on S&P 500 internals (“Basically crashed”), signaling caution about market breadth — such high?profile negative commentary can prompt short?term risk?off flows that pressure trading and wealth-management revenue. MS Strategist on S&P 500 Internals (TheStreet)

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.1%

MS stock opened at $166.64 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $264.60 billion, a PE ratio of 16.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $94.33 and a twelve month high of $192.68. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $179.57 and its 200-day moving average is $167.47.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 prior year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Evercore downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.93.

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.