Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Acquires 9,692 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 41.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,692 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $5,287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Donaldson Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the third quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 467,246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,273,000 after purchasing an additional 9,056 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in 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. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.8% in the third 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 in the last quarter. A4 Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at about $855,000. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.9% during the third quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 157,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,048,000 after purchasing an additional 5,876 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $157.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Evercore downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays increased 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $185.93.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Equinix to $1,075 and reiterated an Overweight call — a visible example of bullish research that can generate trading and client interest in MS’s coverage. Morgan Stanley Lifts Equinix (EQIX) Price Target to $1,075
• Positive Sentiment: MS initiated coverage of GE Aerospace with an Overweight and a $425 target — coverage initiations often increase visibility and trading flow for both the bank and the stock. Morgan Stanley Initiates Coverage on GE Aerospace (GE)
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts at Morgan Stanley reiterated Buy ratings on smaller software/infra names (e.g., JFrog), signaling ongoing conviction in parts of the tech coverage franchise that can support trading and advisory revenue. JFrog: Market Overreacts to Claude Code Security Launch…
• Neutral Sentiment: Several Morgan Stanley analysts maintained Buy or Hold stances on mid‑cap names (LifeStance, Tronox, Newell), reflecting steady research activity but little immediate market‑moving change in stance. LifeStance: Improving Utilization… Tronox Hold Rationale Newell Hold Rationale
• Neutral Sentiment: MS research is being cited in broader thematic pieces (e.g., AI stock roundups), which supports the firm’s thought‑leadership but is unlikely to move MS shares materially by itself. 10 Unstoppable AI Stocks to Invest In Now
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory filing: Morgan Stanley and certain subsidiaries have ceased to be substantial holders in Pilbara Minerals — a public reduction in a stake can signal portfolio trimming and may be perceived as AUM/flow headwind. Morgan Stanley Drops Below Substantial Holder Threshold in Pilbara Minerals
• Negative Sentiment: MS research flagged execution risks and data‑center delays at CoreWeave ahead of earnings — negative analyst notes can depress client positions and trading in covered names and reflect caution in parts of the tech/infra book. CoreWeave Slides as Morgan Stanley Flags Execution Risks
• Negative Sentiment: Institutional activity reports show MS reduced positions in some holdings (example: noted reductions in RKLB exposure), consistent with rebalancing that can temporarily reduce fee‑related assets. QuiverQuant RKLB institutional activity

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.55, for a total value of $3,691,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 127,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,598,777.60. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.61, for a total value of $6,020,286.48. Following the sale, the insider owned 357,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,254,222.62. The trade was a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $175.25 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The firm has a market cap of $278.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.16, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $180.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $166.42. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $192.68.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.18%.

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.