Bollard Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Bollard Group LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 5.5% in Q3 to 259,424 shares, valued at about $41.24 million, making MS its 15th-largest holding.
• Institutional investors own roughly 84.19% of Morgan Stanley’s stock, and several funds materially increased positions in the quarter (e.g., Bahl & Gaynor +103.1%, Exchange Traded Concepts +97.4%, ABN Amro +52.6%).
• Morgan Stanley capped redemptions at its North Haven private‑credit fund—honoring a 5% quarterly repurchase cap after ~10.9% redemption requests—which spurred investor concern and a multi‑percent selloff in MS and peers.

Bollard Group LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 259,424 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 13,541 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for approximately 1.0% of Bollard Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Bollard Group LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $41,238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 103.1% during the third quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 12,700 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,019,000 after buying an additional 6,448 shares during the period. Donaldson Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the third quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 467,246 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $74,273,000 after buying an additional 9,056 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 97.4% during 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 in the last quarter. A4 Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $855,000. Finally, ABN Amro Investment Solutions grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 52.6% during the 3rd quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 113,504 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $18,043,000 after acquiring an additional 39,104 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore cut Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, March 5th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $187.14.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.3%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $154.84 on Friday. 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 business's fifty day simple moving average is $176.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.26. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $192.68. The company has a market capitalization of $245.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 14.09%.The company's revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total value of $5,569,194.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 280,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,501,921.22. This represents a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 15,838 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.77, for a total transaction of $2,942,225.26. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 135,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,135,424.08. The trade was a 10.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506. 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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