Calydon Capital Sells 11,756 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Calydon Capital sold 11,756 shares of Morgan Stanley—an 18.7% reduction—leaving it with 51,220 shares worth about $8.14 million (roughly 1.3% of Calydon’s portfolio and its 14th largest holding).
• Morgan Stanley capped redemptions at its North Haven private‑credit fund after ~10.9% withdrawal requests, a move that spurred investor concern and a multi‑percent selloff, even as institutional ownership remains high (84.19%) and several large funds increased positions.
• The firm recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, pays a $1 quarterly dividend ($4.00 annual, ~2.6% yield), and carries an analyst consensus of “Moderate Buy” with an average target of $187.14.

Calydon Capital cut its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 51,220 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 11,756 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up approximately 1.3% of Calydon Capital's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Calydon Capital's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,142,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,234,883,000. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 23.4% in the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,357,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,318,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,776,544 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 319.7% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,092,341 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $294,727,000 after acquiring an additional 1,593,774 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 18.1% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,623,305 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,355,537,000 after acquiring an additional 1,476,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,123,487 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $16,779,734,000 after acquiring an additional 1,354,142 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $173.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Evercore downgraded Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Wolfe Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $211.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $187.14.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of MS 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. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $192.68. The firm's 50 day moving average is $176.11 and its 200-day moving average is $168.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $245.87 billion, a PE ratio of 15.17, a P/E/G 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 14.09%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. 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 is presently 39.18%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total transaction of $5,569,194.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 280,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $51,501,921.22. This represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 8,500 shares of the firm's 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 $21,690,826.24. The trade was a 6.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506. 0.19% of the stock is owned by 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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