Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Grows Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 48.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,558 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises 0.1% of Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,744,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 91.9% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total transaction of $5,569,194.60. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $3,966,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 171,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,464,920. This trade represents a 11.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506 over the last ninety days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $207.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $157.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Evercore cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of MS stock opened at $160.15 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $178.20 and a 200 day moving average of $168.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-year high of $192.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $254.30 billion, a PE ratio of 15.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 14.09%.The business had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.18%.

Key Stories 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

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.