Caprock Group LLC Acquires New Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 54,534 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,206,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Krilogy Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 20.1% in the 3rd quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 16,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,778,000 after acquiring an additional 2,819 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 79,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,395 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 25,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,036,000 after purchasing an additional 2,458 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.9% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,274,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.0% during the third quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 34,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,421,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley rehired veteran dealmaker Michael Grimes to lead investment banking, a move that should strengthen the firm’s front‑office capacity for M&A and capital markets execution — a direct positive for future fee income and deal flow. Morgan Stanley rehires Grimes to lead investment banking – report
• Positive Sentiment: MS analysts/public research argue the A.I. rally can continue this year — a bullish macro/sector view that supports trading and investment banking activity tied to technology names, which can lift trading volumes and advisory mandates. Morgan Stanley Says A.I. Rally Can Continue This Year
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s presentation at the UBS Financial Services Conference (transcript) provides management commentary and strategy detail — worth reading for updates on the wealth pivot, capital return, and trading outlook but not a market mover by itself. Morgan Stanley (MS) Presents at UBS Financial Services Conference 2026 Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley research also warned that an AI‑led software selloff could pose risks to a large segment of the U.S. credit market — a caution that can amplify market volatility and depress banks’ trading and credit-related revenue if risk‑off sentiment spreads. That macro risk likely offsets some of the positive firm‑specific news. AI‑led software selloff may pose risk for $1.5 trillion U.S. credit market, says Morgan Stanley
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst pieces (e.g., Zacks) continue to debate whether MS’s shift toward wealth management justifies the current multiple given rising expenses — a valuation/earnings‑quality concern that can pressure the stock despite strong fee and trading results. Is Morgan Stanley’s Wealth Pivot Enough to Make the Stock a Buy?

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a report on Friday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $211.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Three 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider owned 127,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,598,777.60. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.61, for a total value of $6,020,286.48. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 357,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,254,222.62. This trade represents a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $177.94 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $282.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $181.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $164.66. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-year high of $192.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.92% and a net margin of 14.09%.The business had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.18%.

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.