Strs Ohio Sells 23,308 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Strs Ohio reduced its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 384,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,308 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $61,192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth $2,234,883,000. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 23.4% during the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,357,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,318,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,776,544 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 319.7% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,092,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $294,727,000 after buying an additional 1,593,774 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 18.1% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,623,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,355,537,000 after buying an additional 1,476,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,123,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,779,734,000 after acquiring an additional 1,354,142 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley was selected as one of the lead banks for the anticipated SpaceX IPO — a high‑visibility mandate that can generate significant fees and bolster investment-banking sentiment for MS. Elon Musk’s SpaceX lines up 4 banks for blockbuster IPO
• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly banking context: the “Big Six” U.S. banks delivered strong bottom‑line Q4 results and Morgan Stanley was cited as an exception to the broader post‑earnings bank selloff — supporting investor confidence in MS’s earnings trajectory and ROE. Bank Stocks: Another Quarter of Double-Digit S&P 500 Earnings Growth?
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley research flagged geopolitical and policy risks (U.S. policy and Trump-era trade/debt positions) that could influence dollar dominance and macro flows — useful for positioning but not an immediate stock catalyst. Trump policies put dollar dominance under fresh global scrutiny
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider stock sales at Morgan Stanley were disclosed this week — multiple senior executives filed Form 4s selling sizable blocks (examples include Michael Pizzi, Andrew Saperstein, Eric Grossman, Sharon Yeshaya and others). Concentrated insider selling can increase near‑term selling pressure and raise investor caution. Insider sale SEC filing (Michael A. Pizzi)

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 15,838 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.77, for a total value of $2,942,225.26. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 135,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,135,424.08. The trade was a 10.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction 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 approximately $31,464,920. This trade represents a 11.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 196,223 shares of company stock worth $34,150,220. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.2%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $183.00 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $192.68. The business’s fifty day moving average is $176.63 and its 200 day moving average is $160.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $290.84 billion, a PE ratio of 17.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.92%. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 39.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on MS. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $211.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.