Caprock Group LLC Makes New Investment in Morgan Stanley $MS

Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 54,534 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,206,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Donaldson Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the third quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 467,246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,273,000 after acquiring an additional 9,056 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 97.4% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 22,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,644,000 after acquiring an additional 11,311 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 581,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,407,000 after purchasing an additional 21,458 shares during the last quarter. A4 Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at $855,000. Finally, ABN AMRO Bank N.V. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 569.5% during the 3rd quarter. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. now owns 296,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,484,000 after purchasing an additional 252,435 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

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 the firm’s front‑office capacity for M&A and capital markets execution — a direct positive for future fee income and deal flow. Morgan Stanley rehires Grimes to lead investment banking – report
• Positive Sentiment: MS analysts/public research argue the A.I. rally can continue this year — a bullish macro/sector view that supports trading and investment banking activity tied to technology names, which can lift trading volumes and advisory mandates. Morgan Stanley Says A.I. Rally Can Continue This Year
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s presentation at the UBS Financial Services Conference (transcript) provides management commentary and strategy detail — worth reading for updates on the wealth pivot, capital return, and trading outlook but not a market mover by itself. Morgan Stanley (MS) Presents at UBS Financial Services Conference 2026 Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley research also warned that an AI‑led software selloff could pose risks to a large segment of the U.S. credit market — a caution that can amplify market volatility and depress banks’ trading and credit-related revenue if risk‑off sentiment spreads. That macro risk likely offsets some of the positive firm‑specific news. AI‑led software selloff may pose risk for $1.5 trillion U.S. credit market, says Morgan Stanley
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst pieces (e.g., Zacks) continue to debate whether MS’s shift toward wealth management justifies the current multiple given rising expenses — a valuation/earnings‑quality concern that can pressure the stock despite strong fee and trading results. Is Morgan Stanley’s Wealth Pivot Enough to Make the Stock a Buy?

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on MS. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $211.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Dbs Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $177.94 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $94.33 and a twelve month high of $192.68. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $181.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $164.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $282.80 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.92% and a net margin of 14.09%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.22 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 8,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.08, for a total transaction of $1,547,680.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 119,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,690,826.24. The trade was a 6.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.61, for a total transaction of $6,020,286.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 357,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,254,222.62. This represents a 8.45% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley 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.