Talon Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 16,081 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,646,000.
Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,736,648,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,917,776 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,648,354,000 after acquiring an additional 3,364,080 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 142.4% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,122,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $511,723,000 after acquiring an additional 1,833,844 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,361,940 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2,332.9% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,406,495 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $249,710,000 after purchasing an additional 1,348,683 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
MS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wolfe Research decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $224.50.
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Morgan Stanley News Roundup
Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley launched the MSSE Ethereum Trust and MSOL Solana Trust on NYSE Arca. Both products charge a 0.14% expense ratio and intend to stake assets, passing staking rewards to investors. The products expand Morgan Stanley’s digital-asset platform beyond its bitcoin offering and could generate new fee revenue. Morgan Stanley expands crypto lineup with Ether, Solana ETPs
- Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage highlighted Morgan Stanley’s strong position in the investment-banking and trading boom. The firm advised on 15 construction-related transactions worth $81.3 billion in the first half of 2026, reinforcing its competitive position in mergers and acquisitions. Morgan Stanley leads construction M&A advisory in H1 2026
- Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley strategists remain constructive on artificial-intelligence investment, arguing that major technology companies’ substantial AI spending could ultimately produce strong returns and improve profit margins. This supports continued advisory, financing and trading opportunities for MS, although the view primarily benefits its corporate clients. Morgan Stanley says AI investment could generate strong returns
- Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is among the anchor investors in Manipal Health Enterprises’ planned Indian IPO, which raised Rs 4,167 crore from anchor investors. The deal may provide advisory, underwriting or distribution revenue, but its near-term financial impact on MS was not disclosed. Manipal Health IPO anchor investment
- Negative Sentiment: The positive company-specific news has not offset likely profit-taking and broader risk reduction across financial and technology stocks. Morgan Stanley’s shares remain near their 52-week high, leaving valuation and market-sentiment concerns as potential reasons investors are selling despite the firm’s strong prior earnings and expanding fee opportunities.
Morgan Stanley Price Performance
NYSE:MS opened at $211.82 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $334.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $136.17 and a 12-month high of $232.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The company's 50-day moving average is $214.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $190.37.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 15.65%.The firm had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 EPS for the current year.
Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 32.34%.
Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.
About Morgan Stanley
(
Free Report)
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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