Stokes Capital Advisors LLC Takes Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Stokes Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 20,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,585,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Central Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 3,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $635,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $929,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.1% in the third quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 3,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MS. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Zacks Research cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $187.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.55, for a total transaction of $3,691,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 127,872 shares in the company, valued at $23,598,777.60. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $3,966,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 171,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,464,920. This trade represents a 11.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong reported results and recent beats reinforce MS’s core revenue and trading franchise — record 2025 revenue and a Q4 EPS beat underpin the firm’s fundamentals and fee-generation outlook. MS Beats Market Upswing
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is in position for high‑profile investment‑banking mandates (SpaceX IPO chatter), which could support future IB fees and client pipeline if those deals proceed. SpaceX IPO Prediction Markets
• Positive Sentiment: Ongoing expansion into digital assets and tokenization (ETF filings, platform hires) supports new revenue lines — a strategic growth angle investors may value over the medium term. Morgan Stanley on Crypto Move
• Neutral Sentiment: Firm research is feeding market flow — Morgan Stanley’s AlphaWise smartphone data (positive for AAPL) and other thematic notes keep MS visible as a go‑to research house, which is revenue‑supportive but not an immediate stock catalyst. AlphaWise iPhone Survey
• Neutral Sentiment: Thought leadership/webinars (AI + software, AlphaSense partnership) help reputation and institutional engagement; useful for longer‑term positioning but not a direct short‑term earnings driver. AI vs Software Webinar
• Neutral Sentiment: Routine analyst activity — MS naming Intuit a top pick and other coverage moves show normal sell‑side reweighting that can influence sector flow but is company‑agnostic for MS’s own share price. Intuit Top Pick
• Negative Sentiment: Third‑party downgrade: Zacks lowered MS from “strong‑buy” to “hold” this morning — analyst tone and any rating drift can remove marginal buyers and pressure the stock. Zacks Downgrade/TickerReport
• Negative Sentiment: Sentiment disconnect: coverage noted that record earnings did not prevent a sharp pullback in shares (retail/social sentiment and short‑term positioning weighed), showing earnings beats alone aren’t calming speculative outflows. Record Earnings but Shares Fell
• Negative Sentiment: Macro risk: Morgan Stanley warned about a hawkish Fed outlook and higher‑for‑longer rate risk — a backdrop that can hurt risk appetite, raise funding costs and add volatility to MS trading and wealth‑management flows. MS Fed Rate Warning

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $165.63 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $192.68. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $168.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The stock has a market cap of $263.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.22, a PEG ratio of 1.33 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 14.09%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.18%.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.