Morgan Stanley $MS Position Lessened by Prospera Financial Services Inc

Prospera Financial Services Inc reduced its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 41.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,521 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the 2nd 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. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,045,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,387,005,000 after purchasing an additional 749,150 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,234,883,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,438,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,894,023,000 after purchasing an additional 374,711 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.3% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,980,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,546,659,000 after purchasing an additional 28,420 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Michael Grimes’ return to Morgan Stanley reinforces the firm’s role at the center of the tech IPO cycle — a potential boost to investment‑banking fees and equity capital markets activity if deal flow accelerates. Michael Grimes Return Puts Morgan Stanley At Center Of Tech IPO Cycle
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s research effort (scanning ~3,600 stocks for AI winners) and thematic reports boost its franchise value — stronger research can attract trading, asset‑management and advisory revenue. Morgan Stanley examined 3,600 stocks amid AI’s shakeout. It has recommendations.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst actions tied to Morgan Stanley research have market impact (examples: coverage that helped lift Micron). That influence helps the bank’s equity research / sales trading revenues and bolsters client relationships. Morgan Stanley Pounds the Table on Micron Stock (MU)
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley research pieces (e.g., on private companies reshaping industries and AV startups) highlight content leadership that supports long‑term advisory and wealth management positioning — strategic positives whose revenue impact is gradual. Private Companies Are Reshaping These 5 Industries: Morgan Stanley
• Negative Sentiment: Governance/headline risk from executive compensation: reports that CEO Ted Pick’s pay rose ~32% to ~$45M have created negative optics and may pressure sentiment among public investors sensitive to pay/governance issues. Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick’s pay rises 32% to $45 million
• Negative Sentiment: Industry headwinds for certain fee pools: reporting that major banks (including Morgan Stanley) are pulling back on financing some clean‑energy deals can weigh on potential investment banking and lending pipelines in that sector. US Clean Energy Deals Face Financing Risk as Big Banks Hold Back

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $207.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Zacks Research raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $211.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.08, for a total transaction of $1,547,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 119,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,690,826.24. This represents a 6.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.61, for a total value of $6,020,286.48. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 357,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,254,222.62. This represents a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 4.8%

Shares of MS stock opened at $168.15 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $192.68. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $180.96 and its 200-day moving average is $164.77. The stock has a market cap of $267.24 billion, a PE ratio of 16.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.92% and a net margin of 14.09%.The business had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.22 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 39.18%.

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.