Chilton Investment Co. Inc. Buys 4,213 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Chilton Investment Co. Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 216,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,213 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises approximately 0.7% of Chilton Investment Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Chilton Investment Co. Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $34,387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. Burling Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at $568,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 25.9% in the 2nd quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 9,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,408,000 after buying an additional 2,058 shares during the period. CFO4Life Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $230,000. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 15.0% during the second quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 264,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,310,000 after acquiring an additional 34,524 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $211.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Evercore lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, 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. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total value of $5,569,194.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 280,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,501,921.22. The trade was a 9.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 15,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.77, for a total transaction of $2,942,225.26. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 135,304 shares in the company, valued at $25,135,424.08. This trade represents a 10.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506 in the last three months. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $154.84 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $245.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.20. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $192.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $176.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $168.26.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.40. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 14.09%.The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect 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 issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 39.18%.

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.