Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Has $57.22 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 322,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 27,387 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $57,224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $873,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $552,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stokes Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $3,585,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total transaction of $5,569,194.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 280,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,501,921.22. The trade was a 9.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider owned 171,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,464,920. The trade was a 11.19% 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 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong reported results and recent beats reinforce MS’s core revenue and trading franchise — record 2025 revenue and a Q4 EPS beat underpin the firm’s fundamentals and fee-generation outlook. MS Beats Market Upswing
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is in position for high‑profile investment‑banking mandates (SpaceX IPO chatter), which could support future IB fees and client pipeline if those deals proceed. SpaceX IPO Prediction Markets
• Positive Sentiment: Ongoing expansion into digital assets and tokenization (ETF filings, platform hires) supports new revenue lines — a strategic growth angle investors may value over the medium term. Morgan Stanley on Crypto Move
• Neutral Sentiment: Firm research is feeding market flow — Morgan Stanley’s AlphaWise smartphone data (positive for AAPL) and other thematic notes keep MS visible as a go‑to research house, which is revenue‑supportive but not an immediate stock catalyst. AlphaWise iPhone Survey
• Neutral Sentiment: Thought leadership/webinars (AI + software, AlphaSense partnership) help reputation and institutional engagement; useful for longer‑term positioning but not a direct short‑term earnings driver. AI vs Software Webinar
• Neutral Sentiment: Routine analyst activity — MS naming Intuit a top pick and other coverage moves show normal sell‑side reweighting that can influence sector flow but is company‑agnostic for MS’s own share price. Intuit Top Pick
• Negative Sentiment: Third‑party downgrade: Zacks lowered MS from “strong‑buy” to “hold” this morning — analyst tone and any rating drift can remove marginal buyers and pressure the stock. Zacks Downgrade/TickerReport
• Negative Sentiment: Sentiment disconnect: coverage noted that record earnings did not prevent a sharp pullback in shares (retail/social sentiment and short‑term positioning weighed), showing earnings beats alone aren’t calming speculative outflows. Record Earnings but Shares Fell
• Negative Sentiment: Macro risk: Morgan Stanley warned about a hawkish Fed outlook and higher‑for‑longer rate risk — a backdrop that can hurt risk appetite, raise funding costs and add volatility to MS trading and wealth‑management flows. MS Fed Rate Warning

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $211.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $187.14.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS opened at $165.63 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $192.68. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $172.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $168.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The company has a market cap of $263.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 39.18%.

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.