International Assets Investment Management LLC Takes Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 10,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,684,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,123,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,779,734,000 after buying an additional 1,354,142 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,045,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,387,005,000 after buying an additional 749,150 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth $2,234,883,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,438,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,894,023,000 after acquiring an additional 374,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.3% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,980,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,546,659,000 after acquiring an additional 28,420 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $157.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley was named one of the lead banks on the highly visible SpaceX IPO, which should generate sizable investment‑banking fees and boost confidence in MS’s deal pipeline. Elon Musk’s SpaceX lines up 4 banks for blockbuster IPO
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 fundamentals remain supportive — MS recently beat on EPS and revenue, announced a $1.00 quarterly dividend (ex‑div Jan 30), and has strong ROE metrics cited by analysts; those fundamentals underpin longer‑term investor support. Morgan Stanley stock page / Q4 results & dividend
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Wealth Management staff publicly urged clients not to panic‑sell, messaging designed to stabilize flows and sentiment among retail/wealth clients. That communication can help limit outflows and calm short‑term volatility. ‘Don’t Get Off the Rodeo Bull’: Morgan Stanley Warns Investors Not to Panic Sell
• Neutral Sentiment: Research action from MS — the firm cut Oracle’s target ~30% citing AI infra concerns. This is a research call on a large tech name (shows MS positioning/opinion) but is not a direct company fundamental change for MS itself. Oracle target cut by Morgan Stanley
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple senior Morgan Stanley insiders filed Form 4s this week (large sales by executives including Michael Pizzi, Andrew Saperstein, Eric Grossman, Sharon Yeshaya and others). Concentrated insider selling can add short‑term supply and raise investor caution. Insider sale SEC filing (example)

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 127,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,598,777.60. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 196,223 shares of company stock worth $34,150,220. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 2.2%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $179.02 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $176.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $161.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $192.68. The stock has a market cap of $284.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.92% 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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.