Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

Key Points

• New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its Morgan Stanley stake by 3.6%, selling 36,729 shares and now holding 986,094 shares valued at about $175.1 million.
• Insiders have been net sellers: Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares and Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690, with insiders disposing of 110,444 shares worth approximately $20.7 million over the last 90 days, leaving insider ownership at 0.17%.
• Morgan Stanley beat expectations (Q EPS $3.43 vs $3.02; revenue $20.58B, +16% YoY), has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $201.89 target, and declared a $1.00 quarterly dividend (2.1% yield).

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 986,094 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 36,729 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.06% of Morgan Stanley worth $175,061,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $21,253,554,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,940 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,321,214 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,343,523,000 after purchasing an additional 167,487 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,494,146 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,893,590,000 after purchasing an additional 448,960 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.1% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,260,650 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,267,847,000 after purchasing an additional 822,120 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.8% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,712,071 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,543,831,000 after purchasing an additional 354,871 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Citizens Jmp restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group dropped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $201.89.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the sale, the insider owned 365,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 110,444 shares of company stock worth $20,665,049 over the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS traded up $1.92 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $189.00. 867,378 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,067,707. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $171.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $172.62. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $114.67 and a 1 year high of $194.59. The company has a market cap of $298.88 billion, a PE ratio of 17.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.19.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.8 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded Morgan Stanley to a "Strong Buy" (Zacks rank #1). Analyst upgrades can attract short-term buying and support the stock if other catalysts align. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group raised its FY2026 and FY2027 EPS forecasts for Morgan Stanley, lifting consensus earnings expectations — a fundamental vote of confidence that can help the stock’s valuation over time. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Investment Management led an $875M senior-debt financing for Bridgepointe Technologies (shows the firm winning mandate and fee income opportunities in private credit). That business momentum is supportive for MS’s investment‑management franchise. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is an underwriter on recent IPO activity (e.g., Avalyn Pharma). Investment-banking and underwriting fees help revenue, but timing and size of revenue recognition can be volatile. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley research (economic call) flagged sticky core inflation and a later Fed easing path. That analysis matters for market expectations and MS’s trading and wealth-management flows, but the net investor reaction can go either way. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market weakness this morning (S&P/SPY drag from earnings and tech/optics moves) is a likely headwind — Morgan Stanley, which has market-sensitive businesses, often trades with market flow. Short-term selling in major ETFs is cited in market summaries. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Technicals and profit‑taking risk: MS is trading near its 12‑month high and above its 50/200‑day moving averages — that can prompt short-term trimming by momentum players after recent gains (increased volatility near highs). See the stock profile for the technical context. Read More.

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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