Capital World Investors Has $108.11 Million Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Capital World Investors cut its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 89.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 608,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,048,925 shares during the quarter. Capital World Investors’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $108,107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,855.6% in the 4th quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total value of $2,779,935.60. Following the sale, the insider owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Dbs Bank boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $171.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.95.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE MS opened at $210.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $331.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.04, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $190.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $179.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $128.81 and a 52 week high of $219.16.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 36.23%.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley remains constructive on several financial and growth names, including recent bullish calls on companies like Cloudflare and American Airlines, reinforcing the bank’s active role in shaping market expectations. Morgan Stanley Lifts PT on Cloudflare (NET)
• Positive Sentiment: The company said it is “wide awake” to acquisition opportunities, which can support optimism that Morgan Stanley could pursue strategic M&A if conditions improve. Morgan Stanley ‘wide awake’ to acquisition opportunities, CEO says
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded Morgan Stanley (MS) to a Buy-equivalent ranking, citing improving earnings prospects. Morgan Stanley (MS) Upgraded to Buy: Here’s Why
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley presented at the U.S. Financials Conference 2026, which keeps investor attention on the bank’s capital markets and wealth-management strategy rather than on a single earnings event. Morgan Stanley (MS) Presents at US Financials Conference 2026 Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market risk-off trading and fading rate-cut expectations are pressuring financials and other rate-sensitive names, which can weigh on Morgan Stanley even without a bad company headline.

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.