Whalerock Point Partners LLC Cuts Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Whalerock Point Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 97.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 48,940 shares during the period. Whalerock Point Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $224,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 91.9% during the 3rd quarter. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC now owns 213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth about $38,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.61, for a total transaction of $6,020,286.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 357,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,254,222.62. This represents a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 15,838 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.77, for a total value of $2,942,225.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 135,304 shares in the company, valued at $25,135,424.08. This represents a 10.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506 in the last three months. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 2.1%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $177.46 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $180.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $166.91. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $192.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $281.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is building a full-stack digital-asset business (custody, trading, bitcoin lending and yield products). That expands fee opportunities outside traditional banking/wealth management and positions MS to capture growing institutional/wealth client demand for crypto services if compliance and execution go smoothly. Morgan Stanley Explores Full-Stack Digital Asset Services, Including Bitcoin Lending
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and coverage note MS’s strong liquidity cushion and explicit capital-return capacity: Zacks highlights ~$386B average liquidity, an 8% dividend bump and ~$17.4B remaining under the $20B buyback authorization — supportive for shareholder returns and a near-term tailwind for the share price. Does Morgan Stanley’s Liquidity Cushion Support Its Capital Returns?
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (MSDL) posted Q4 results and declared a dividend — a pick‑up for yield‑seeking investors and a reminder of fee/cash-generating businesses inside the MS ecosystem. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Posts Q4 Results, Declares Dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley research is getting attention — a note that AI capex is driving strong EM earnings boosts the firm’s positioning as a thought leader, which can attract investment-banking and asset-management flows over time but is not an immediate earnings lever. AI capex fuelling strongest EM earnings in two decades, MS says
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary notes Morgan Stanley has recently outperformed the S&P 500 and that analysts are moderately constructive — positive for sentiment but not a catalyst on its own. Is Morgan Stanley Stock Outperforming the S&P 500?
• Negative Sentiment: Execution and regulatory risk on crypto/digital-asset expansion remain real — new product lines raise operational, compliance and reputational risks that could weigh on costs or invitations for regulatory scrutiny. Investors should weigh upside from new revenue streams against these risks. Morgan Stanley Explores Full-Stack Digital Asset Services, Including Bitcoin Lending

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $157.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $211.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Evercore downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $185.93.

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.