Simplicity Wealth LLC Sells 3,080 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Simplicity Wealth LLC lessened its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 41.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,080 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Common Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 227,034 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,089,000 after buying an additional 1,025 shares in the last quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 8.7% in the third quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,154,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. CNB Bank lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 4,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $756,000 after buying an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the third quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 22,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,529,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stiles Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth $216,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Morgan Stanley News

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 Activity

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider owned 280,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,501,921.22. This represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $3,966,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 171,005 shares in the company, valued at $31,464,920. The trade was a 11.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 196,223 shares of company stock valued at $34,150,220 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MS. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. 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. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. 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 Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $179.02 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $192.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $284.52 billion, a PE ratio of 17.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $176.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.18. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.