AE Wealth Management LLC Has $27.50 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 619% in Q4, adding 133,351 shares to hold 154,894 shares worth about $27.5 million.
• Morgan Stanley's Q1 results beat expectations — EPS $3.43 vs. $3.02 and revenue $20.58B vs. $19.23B — spurring analyst price‑target raises, and its spot Bitcoin ETF (MSBT) gathered over $100M in the first week.
• The firm announced a quarterly dividend of $1.00 (≈2.1% yield) while insiders have been net sellers (195,549 shares sold, ≈$36.3M over three months) and institutional investors own 84.19% of the stock.

AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 619.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 154,894 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 133,351 shares during the quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $27,498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 65.2% in the third quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 185 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat expectations: revenue and EPS surprised on the upside, driven by strong trading and investment‑banking performance and continued wealth‑management flows — the core earnings beat is the primary driver of investor optimism. MS Q1 Deep Dive: Wealth and Investment Banking Deliver
• Positive Sentiment: MSBT (Morgan Stanley’s spot Bitcoin ETF) has drawn >$100M in its first week — a fast start that supports asset‑gathering momentum and fee diversification at the firm. Morgan Stanley Bitcoin ETF Tops $100 Million in Six Days
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street is increasing MS valuation assumptions: several firms raised price targets and upgraded outlooks after Q1 (Bank of America, Evercore, Argus, Keefe Bruyette & Woods among them), which supports further upside narratives. Morgan Stanley Price Target Raised to $225.00 at Bank of America
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend and capital return: Morgan Stanley announced a $1.00 quarterly dividend (ex‑dividend Apr 30), signaling confidence in cash generation and returning capital to shareholders (income‑supporting but not an earnings catalyst).
• Neutral Sentiment: Ongoing investment banking / underwriting activity (including large debt syndications) highlights the firm’s franchise utility in markets — positive for fee pipelines but cyclically sensitive to capital‑markets activity.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory / reputational overhang: Senator Elizabeth Warren requested Fed records tied to a Fed nominee’s past actions that reference Morgan Stanley; while not an immediate earnings issue, it increases political/regulatory headline risk. Elizabeth Warren Challenges Fed Chair Nominee Kevin Warsh
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts still express caution: a few firms kept conservative ratings or raised PTs while maintaining neutral/hold views (e.g., HSBC/Rothschild adjustments), which can cap near‑term upside and prompt mixed trading. HSBC Adjusts Price Target on Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of MS opened at $188.95 on Friday. 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 business's 50-day moving average price is $168.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.67. The stock has a market cap of $298.80 billion, a PE ratio of 17.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.19. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $104.78 and a twelve month high of $194.59.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.89%. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is 36.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.08, for a total value of $1,547,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 119,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,690,826.24. This represents a 6.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $3,966,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 171,005 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,464,920. This represents a 11.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 195,549 shares of company stock valued at $36,260,510 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $207.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday. HSBC increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $171.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $173.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $199.67.

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.

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