Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC Buys 19,182 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 274.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,182 shares during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,161,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Ehrenkranz Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth about $318,000. Bollard Group LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 259,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,238,000 after purchasing an additional 13,541 shares during the last quarter. Carter Financial Group INC. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $204,000. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 11.2% during the third quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 973,640 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,770,000 after buying an additional 98,348 shares during the period. Finally, Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 6,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $154.84 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $245.87 billion, a PE ratio of 15.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $168.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-year high of $192.68.

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. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 14.09%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.22 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $207.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, HSBC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.14.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Selected as one of the Wall Street banks involved in a large Pentagon/defense financing initiative — a potential source of advisory fees and franchise work. Pentagon taps Morgan Stanley for defense initiative
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s research/public commentary on AI and macro trends keeps the firm visible to institutional clients and supports its wealth & investment‑management franchise positioning. That can help offset short‑term trading volatility. Morgan Stanley: AI Revolution Set to Disrupt Jobs and Energy Infrastructure
• Neutral Sentiment: Firm commentary on monetary policy (warning that rate cuts are unlikely soon) is driving market context rather than company-specific flows — it influences investor expectations for bank earnings broadly. Don’t Expect Interest Rate Cuts Anytime Soon, Says Morgan Stanley
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley trimmed a voting stake in Siemens Energy — a portfolio/positioning adjustment that is informational but not material to core operating results. Morgan Stanley Trims Siemens Energy Voting Stake
• Negative Sentiment: The primary near‑term driver: Morgan Stanley capped redemptions at its North Haven private‑income/private‑credit fund after investors requested ~10.9% in redemptions; the fund honored a 5% quarterly repurchase cap. That gating triggered investor concern about private‑credit liquidity and valuation transparency and was the proximate cause of a multi‑percent selloff in MS and other alternative‑asset managers. Morgan Stanley restricts redemptions at private credit fund
• Negative Sentiment: Private‑credit contagion and gating at other managers (Cliffwater, BlackRock coverage) amplified sector risk — investors rotated out of financials and alternative‑asset exposure on worries about defaults, liquidity and mark‑to‑model valuations. Morgan Stanley and Cliffwater limit private credit withdrawals (FT)
• Negative Sentiment: Negative sentiment was reinforced on social channels and media coverage, which likely exacerbated intraday selling pressure and short‑term volatility even though underlying wealth & advisory metrics remain more stable. Wall Street’s Own Stock Is Getting Hammered on Reddit

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,464,920. The trade was a 11.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 8,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.08, for a total transaction of $1,547,680.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 119,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,690,826.24. This trade represents a 6.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506 over the last three months. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Morgan Stanley

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.