Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Mutual of America Capital Management LLC

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 152,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,744 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $24,182,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth approximately $2,234,883,000. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 23.4% in the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,357,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,318,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,776,544 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 319.7% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,092,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $294,727,000 after acquiring an additional 1,593,774 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 18.1% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,623,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,355,537,000 after purchasing an additional 1,476,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 valued at $16,779,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354,142 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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)

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider owned 127,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,598,777.60. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 196,223 shares of company stock worth $34,150,220. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. Dbs Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $211.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $179.02 on Monday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $284.52 billion, a PE ratio of 17.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.20. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-year high of $192.68. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $176.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $161.32.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.40. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.92%. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.22 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue 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 will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 39.18%.

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.