26,874 Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Bought by Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich

Key Points

• Bank Julius Baer increased its Morgan Stanley stake by 3.8%, purchasing 26,874 shares to bring its holdings to 728,658 shares valued at approximately $137.8 million. Institutional investors collectively own 84.19% of the company.
• Morgan Stanley’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $3.03 and revenue of $20.34 billion, up 11.6% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.15 per share, representing a 2.5% annualized yield.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.62, although some firms have reduced targets or downgraded the stock to “Hold.”

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 728,658 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 26,874 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $137,771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth about $78,825,883,310. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,326,676 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,686,881,000 after buying an additional 87,533 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,206,144 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,342,532,000 after acquiring an additional 188,296 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 9,794,288 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,611,846,000 after acquiring an additional 422,775 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,235,756 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,190,585,000 after acquiring an additional 65,739 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $260.00 to $236.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $223.00 to $217.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $214.62.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong deal activity supports investment-banking momentum. Morgan Stanley ranked among the leading advisers by deal value in the automotive, technology, media and telecom, and power sectors during the first three quarters of 2026. Sustained M&A activity could support advisory-fee revenue. Mitsubishi UFJ and Morgan Stanley lead automotive M&A financial advisers’ list Morgan Stanley leads TMT M&A advisers
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is participating in a large AI infrastructure financing. The firm is part of a reported $63 billion financing structure involving Blackstone, Bank of America, and Citigroup to fund AI computing equipment leased to Anthropic. The transaction may create fee income and reinforce MS’s position in rapidly growing AI-related capital markets. Wall Street’s New $63 Billion AI Deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst visibility remains high, but investor attention is focused on valuation. Morgan Stanley was among the most-watched stocks on Zacks, while commentary questioned whether its strong multiyear rally and current valuation are justified by returns on capital and future earnings growth. Shares were recently below both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages, signaling continued technical pressure.
• Negative Sentiment: AI exposure also introduces risk concerns. Commentary on the Anthropic financing warned that lenders and investors could face losses if AI hardware becomes obsolete, utilization disappoints, or AI-related valuations decline. Such concerns may weigh on sentiment toward MS even though the deal offers potential fee opportunities. Can Morgan Stanley Justify Its Price After AI Deal Wins?

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $184.38 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $152.80 and a 52 week high of $232.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $198.11 and a 200-day moving average of $194.29. The stock has a market cap of $290.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $20.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.93 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 19.40%. Morgan Stanley's revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.51%.

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley NYSE: MS is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, institutions, governments and individual investors. Founded in 1935, the company is headquartered in New York City and serves clients through operations across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other international markets.

Through its Institutional Securities segment, Morgan Stanley offers investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading, research, lending and related capital-markets services.

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