Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 10,082 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 14.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,082 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $9,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the third quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,102,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. LeConte Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. LeConte Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.3% during the second quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 3,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $435,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.7% during the third quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

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, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.61, for a total value of $6,020,286.48. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 357,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,254,222.62. The trade was a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506 in the last three months. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $175.77 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $180.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.54. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $192.68. The company has a market capitalization of $279.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th will be given a $1.00 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 39.18%.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Firm-level fundamentals/support — recent writeups emphasize Morgan Stanley’s strong Q4 results and a rebound in investment banking, which underpin valuation upside and give investors a reason to buy the dip. Valuation Check After Strong Q4
• Positive Sentiment: Business momentum — Morgan Stanley led power-sector M&A advisory in 2025, signalling strong deal activity and fee generation in its investment banking franchise. That performance can support revenue and trading/IB sentiment. MS tops power M&A in 2025
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry/regulatory backdrop — Reuters reports big U.S. banks ramped up lobbying last year as policy fights heat up in Washington; this raises regulatory risk attention for the sector but is not MS-specific. Banks boost Washington lobbying
• Neutral Sentiment: Small institutional buying — a regional adviser (Linscomb Wealth) reported a modest purchase of ~2,966 MS shares; useful signal of retail/adviser interest but too small to move the stock alone. Linscomb Wealth buys MS shares
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrade — Evercore ISI cut Morgan Stanley from “strong-buy” to “hold.” That downgrade is the most direct near-term negative catalyst listed and is likely the primary reason the stock is under pressure today as it lowers short-term demand from Evercore-aligned investors. Evercore ISI downgrades MS

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.93.

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.