Aristotle Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Aristotle Capital trimmed its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.8%, selling 14,000 shares and leaving 781,487 shares valued at about $124.225 million per its latest 13F filing.
• Morgan Stanley beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $2.68 (vs. $2.28 est.) and revenue of $17.90 billion (+10.3% YoY), and it pays a $1.00 quarterly dividend ($4.00 annual, ~2.6% yield).
• Private‑credit stress: the firm capped redemptions at its North Haven private‑credit fund after roughly 10.9% withdrawal requests, a move that triggered investor concern, short‑term volatility and a multi‑percent selloff.

Aristotle Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 781,487 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 14,000 shares during the quarter. Aristotle Capital Management LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $124,225,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MS. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 185 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 91.9% in the 3rd quarter. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC now owns 213 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:MS opened at $154.84 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $245.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.20. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $176.11 and a 200 day moving average of $168.26. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $192.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. The company's revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $207.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. HSBC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $187.14.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Selected as one of the Wall Street banks involved in a large Pentagon/defense financing initiative — a potential source of advisory fees and franchise work. Pentagon taps Morgan Stanley for defense initiative
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s research/public commentary on AI and macro trends keeps the firm visible to institutional clients and supports its wealth & investment‑management franchise positioning. That can help offset short‑term trading volatility. Morgan Stanley: AI Revolution Set to Disrupt Jobs and Energy Infrastructure
• Neutral Sentiment: Firm commentary on monetary policy (warning that rate cuts are unlikely soon) is driving market context rather than company-specific flows — it influences investor expectations for bank earnings broadly. Don’t Expect Interest Rate Cuts Anytime Soon, Says Morgan Stanley
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley trimmed a voting stake in Siemens Energy — a portfolio/positioning adjustment that is informational but not material to core operating results. Morgan Stanley Trims Siemens Energy Voting Stake
• Negative Sentiment: The primary near‑term driver: Morgan Stanley capped redemptions at its North Haven private‑income/private‑credit fund after investors requested ~10.9% in redemptions; the fund honored a 5% quarterly repurchase cap. That gating triggered investor concern about private‑credit liquidity and valuation transparency and was the proximate cause of a multi‑percent selloff in MS and other alternative‑asset managers. Morgan Stanley restricts redemptions at private credit fund
• Negative Sentiment: Private‑credit contagion and gating at other managers (Cliffwater, BlackRock coverage) amplified sector risk — investors rotated out of financials and alternative‑asset exposure on worries about defaults, liquidity and mark‑to‑model valuations. Morgan Stanley and Cliffwater limit private credit withdrawals (FT)
• Negative Sentiment: Negative sentiment was reinforced on social channels and media coverage, which likely exacerbated intraday selling pressure and short‑term volatility even though underlying wealth & advisory metrics remain more stable. Wall Street’s Own Stock Is Getting Hammered on Reddit

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 127,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,598,777.60. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider owned 357,342 shares in the company, valued at $65,254,222.62. This trade represents a 8.45% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506 over the last quarter. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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