Natixis Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Natixis Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,055,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,486 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.07% of Morgan Stanley worth $167,725,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 81.8% during the second quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 5,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $755,000 after purchasing an additional 2,412 shares in the last quarter. Andra AP fonden increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 21.9% during the 2nd quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 42,311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,960,000 after buying an additional 7,600 shares in the last quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the second quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 18,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,589,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.1% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 44,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,212,000 after buying an additional 4,771 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MS shares. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $211.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $157.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.5%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $160.15 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $254.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.69, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.20. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $192.68. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $178.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.18%.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley filed an updated S‑1 / SEC amendment advancing its planned spot Bitcoin ETF (naming Coinbase custody and BNY Mellon roles). That materially increases the firm’s potential fee pool (trading, custody, securities lending) if approved — a strategic growth lever beyond traditional banking. Morgan Stanley Files Updated SEC Amendment for Spot Bitcoin ETF Launch
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley provided financing (initial $500M, expandable to $1B) to Core Scientific for data center/AI infrastructure, demonstrating growth in corporate lending and structured finance opportunities tied to AI/crypto infrastructure. That can add fee and interest income if credit performance holds. Core Scientific secures up to $1B credit from Morgan Stanley for data centers
• Neutral Sentiment: Public commentary from Morgan Stanley events (tech/AI conferences) keeps the firm visible as an advisor/market‑maker in tech and AI financing; useful for long‑term franchise positioning but not an immediate earnings surprise. Morgan Stanley’s top tech banker: It’s ‘wartime, not peacetime’ for software
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley announced cuts of roughly 2,500 roles (~3% of workforce) across divisions. Markets often react negatively to broad layoffs because they signal restructuring risk, potential disruption to revenue growth and near‑term execution uncertainty even if they imply future cost savings. Morgan Stanley Sheds 2,500 Employees in Companywide Layoffs
• Negative Sentiment: Investor flow appears to favor trimming MS exposure amid the headlines; analysts and market commentators are re‑assessing near‑term margins and execution risk despite record revenues in 2025 — producing downward pressure on the share price today. Morgan Stanley Cuts 3% Workforce Despite Record Revenues in 2025

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $3,966,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 171,005 shares in the company, valued at $31,464,920. This trade represents a 11.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.61, for a total transaction of $6,020,286.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 357,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,254,222.62. The trade was a 8.45% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506 over the last quarter. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.