Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Has $14.47 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC cut its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 25.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 91,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 30,664 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $14,469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 81.8% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Savant Capital LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 12.1% during the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 44,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,212,000 after purchasing an additional 4,771 shares in the last quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $230,000. Finally, Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.5% in the second quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC now owns 2,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 8,500 shares of the 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 sale, the insider owned 119,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,690,826.24. This represents a 6.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 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 $51,501,921.22. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $207.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Evercore cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $160.15 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $192.68. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $178.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $168.02. The company has a market capitalization of $254.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 14.09%.Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Key Stories 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

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.