HUB Investment Partners LLC Has $25.84 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

HUB Investment Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 10.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 162,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 19,748 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley comprises about 0.9% of HUB Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. HUB Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $25,842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 91.9% in the third quarter. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC now owns 213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $32,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 57.1% during the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley filed an updated S‑1 / SEC amendment advancing its planned spot Bitcoin ETF (naming Coinbase custody and BNY Mellon roles). That materially increases the firm’s potential fee pool (trading, custody, securities lending) if approved — a strategic growth lever beyond traditional banking. Morgan Stanley Files Updated SEC Amendment for Spot Bitcoin ETF Launch
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley provided financing (initial $500M, expandable to $1B) to Core Scientific for data center/AI infrastructure, demonstrating growth in corporate lending and structured finance opportunities tied to AI/crypto infrastructure. That can add fee and interest income if credit performance holds. Core Scientific secures up to $1B credit from Morgan Stanley for data centers
• Neutral Sentiment: Public commentary from Morgan Stanley events (tech/AI conferences) keeps the firm visible as an advisor/market‑maker in tech and AI financing; useful for long‑term franchise positioning but not an immediate earnings surprise. Morgan Stanley’s top tech banker: It’s ‘wartime, not peacetime’ for software
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley announced cuts of roughly 2,500 roles (~3% of workforce) across divisions. Markets often react negatively to broad layoffs because they signal restructuring risk, potential disruption to revenue growth and near‑term execution uncertainty even if they imply future cost savings. Morgan Stanley Sheds 2,500 Employees in Companywide Layoffs
• Negative Sentiment: Investor flow appears to favor trimming MS exposure amid the headlines; analysts and market commentators are re‑assessing near‑term margins and execution risk despite record revenues in 2025 — producing downward pressure on the share price today. Morgan Stanley Cuts 3% Workforce Despite Record Revenues in 2025

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on MS. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Evercore lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $211.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Two 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $160.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business has a 50-day moving average of $178.20 and a 200-day moving average of $167.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $254.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.69, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.20. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $192.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly 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 analysts’ expectations of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 14.09%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 357,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,254,222.62. The trade was a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $5,569,194.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 280,481 shares in the company, valued at $51,501,921.22. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506 in the last ninety days. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.