TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. Reduces Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 208,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,918 shares during the quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $32,679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,102,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 8.1% during the third quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. LeConte Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.7% in the third quarter. LeConte Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 3,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $182.35 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $289.81 billion, a PE ratio of 17.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.20. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $192.68. The company has a fifty day moving average of $178.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $162.02.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.40. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.92%. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.18%.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley completed its acquisition of EquityZen, expanding its private‑shares distribution and strengthening Wealth Management’s ability to offer private‑market exposure to clients — a revenue and client‑retention play for the firm. Morgan Stanley Closes Acquisition of EquityZen
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley named Amy Oldenburg head of digital asset strategy, signaling the bank’s push into crypto ETFs, custody and wallet products — a strategic expansion that could boost fee income if adoption continues. Morgan Stanley appoints digital asset head Amy Oldenburg
• Positive Sentiment: Active research coverage and analyst activity (examples: Morgan Stanley maintaining/upgrading major technology and utility coverage) support trading & research franchise revenue and help drive institutional deal flow. That ongoing analyst footprint can be a steady revenue contributor for the bank. Nvidia: Buy Rated (Morgan Stanley analyst)
• Neutral Sentiment: Visibility / investor relations: Morgan Stanley executives (Wealth head Jed Finn) are speaking at industry conferences and the firm is publicly showcasing its private‑market and wealth initiatives — useful for long‑term positioning but not an immediate earnings catalyst. Jed Finn to Speak at the UBS Financial Services Conference
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley research continues to shape macro and sector calls (e.g., notes on interest‑rate driven spending shifts and space/industrial themes). These publications support the bank’s markets and advisory businesses but can produce mixed market reactions. Morgan Stanley expects interest rate trends to shift spending
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term uncertainty and costs: the push into digital assets (crypto ETFs, wallet) plus integrating EquityZen may increase expenses and regulatory/compliance risk in the near term — investors sometimes mark down banks while they absorb integration and build crypto infrastructure. Morgan Stanley appoints digital asset head Amy Oldenburg

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.08, for a total value of $1,547,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 119,128 shares in the company, valued at $21,690,826.24. This represents a 6.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $3,966,120.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 171,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,464,920. This represents a 11.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 196,223 shares of company stock valued at $34,150,220. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on MS. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Dbs Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $157.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.93.

About Morgan Stanley

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.