Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires 6,025 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 103,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,025 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $16,500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.9% during the third quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 213,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,940,000 after purchasing an additional 38,400 shares during the last quarter. Leuthold Group LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Leuthold Group LLC now owns 69,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,106,000 after buying an additional 2,218 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 100.6% in the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 24,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,851,000 after acquiring an additional 12,147 shares in the last quarter. GK Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth $225,000. Finally, Mechanics Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the third quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 6,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,048,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a report on Friday, January 16th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Dbs Bank raised Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.6%

MS opened at $176.88 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-year high of $192.68. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $181.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $164.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The company has a market capitalization of $281.11 billion, a PE ratio of 17.32, a PEG ratio of 1.43 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 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 company had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 39.18%.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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 MS’s IB origination and M&A capabilities and supports longer‑term fees if deal flow recovers. MSN: Morgan Stanley rehires Grimes
• Positive Sentiment: MS research boosted Micron (MU) estimates and price target — shows the firm’s research franchise is influential and can support trading and investment‑banking positioning around AI/semi names (ancillary benefit to MS revenue mix). Benzinga: Micron pops after Morgan Stanley praise
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley published broad AI research (scanned ~3,600 stocks) and guidance on how to pick AI winners — positions MS as a market thought leader that may drive trading/research client activity but is not an immediate earnings catalyst. MarketWatch: MS examined 3,600 stocks amid AI shakeout
• Neutral Sentiment: MS presented at the UBS Financial Services conference (management / strategy disclosure). Such appearances provide transparency on strategy (wealth pivot, expense guidance) — useful to investors but typically incremental. Seeking Alpha: MS UBS conference transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market headwinds and rotation/volatility in AI‑led software are weighing on risk assets; Morgan Stanley’s stock is likely being affected by profit‑taking and sector volatility despite positive company moves. Morgan Stanley has also flagged macro/market credit risks tied to the AI selloff narrative. Yahoo: AI-led software selloff may pose risk

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total transaction of $5,569,194.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 280,481 shares in the company, valued at $51,501,921.22. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.55, for a total transaction of $3,691,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 127,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,598,777.60. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.