Tredje AP fonden Makes New Investment in Morgan Stanley $MS

Tredje AP fonden purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 167,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $26,667,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 3,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 2,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,102,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 6,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $211.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $157.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $185.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 8,500 shares of the firm’s 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 owned 119,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,690,826.24. This trade represents a 6.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $3,966,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 171,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,464,920. This represents a 11.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506 over the last three months. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $175.25 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $180.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $166.07. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $192.68. The company has a market cap of $278.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.18%.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 2025 earnings beat — Morgan Stanley reported $2.68 diluted EPS (above $2.28 consensus) and $17.9B revenue (above consensus), with profit and ROE improving versus year-ago results. That beat supports valuation multiples and investor confidence in core businesses. Morgan Stanley Q4 2025 earnings (Quiver)
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Wealth Management is cutting transaction fees on private-share trading via its EquityZen marketplace, widening access to private markets for clients and potentially increasing platform volume and AUM-driven fees over time. This is a strategic, client-facing fee action that supports recurring fee growth. MS press release: EquityZen fee reduction
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional positioning and research influence — filings and press coverage show Morgan Stanley increasing certain crypto-related stakes (e.g., BitMine) and remaining active with analyst coverage (initiations/ratings across GE, CoreWeave, etc.). These activities highlight diversified revenue/alpha generation but carry mixed risk/reward. Wall Street boosts Bitmine stakes (Cointelegraph)
• Neutral Sentiment: Research calls can move sectors — recent Morgan Stanley analyst notes (e.g., cautious stance ahead of CoreWeave earnings, new coverage of GE Aerospace) underscore the firm’s market influence; that can amplify short-term flows but is not a direct corporate catalyst for MS itself. TipRanks: Morgan Stanley on CoreWeave
• Negative Sentiment: Reputational/legal risk — reporting that Morgan Stanley opened accounts for Epstein-related trusts as late as 2019 could raise regulatory or reputational questions and short-term investor caution, particularly if follow-up scrutiny or legal exposure emerges. Yahoo Finance: Morgan Stanley opened accounts for Epstein trusts
• Negative Sentiment: Cash-flow and insider activity flagged in the quarter — while EPS/revenue beat, cash from operating activities swung materially negative (reported roughly -$2.4B) and the company disclosed multiple insider stock sales in recent filings. Those items can temper enthusiasm and are reasons some investors may trim positions despite the headline beat. Morgan Stanley Q4 2025 earnings (Quiver)

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.