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

Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,590,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 120.6% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 225.8% during the second quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 145,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,537,000 after purchasing an additional 101,039 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.5% in the second quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 8,457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,191,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the period. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 32,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,605,000 after buying an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $211.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. HSBC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a report on Friday, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $166.64 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $179.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $167.47. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $94.33 and a twelve month high of $192.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $264.60 billion, a P/E 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 (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.40. The company 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 revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.18%.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 8,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.08, for a total transaction of $1,547,680.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 119,128 shares in the company, valued at $21,690,826.24. This trade represents a 6.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider directly owned 127,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,598,777.60. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.