Wellington Management Group LLP Sells 391,274 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,732,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 391,274 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 1.18% of Morgan Stanley worth $2,977,781,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,123,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,779,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354,142 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,321,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,343,523,000 after purchasing an additional 167,487 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,494,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,893,590,000 after buying an additional 448,960 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,234,883,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,438,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,894,023,000 after buying an additional 374,711 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 171,005 shares in the company, valued at $31,464,920. This trade represents a 11.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.55, for a total transaction of $3,691,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 127,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,598,777.60. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE MS opened at $154.84 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $192.68. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $176.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $168.13. The company has a market cap of $245.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its 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 16.78% and a net margin of 14.09%.The company had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.22 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.18%.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Selected as one of the Wall Street banks involved in a large Pentagon/defense financing initiative — a potential source of advisory fees and franchise work. Pentagon taps Morgan Stanley for defense initiative
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s research/public commentary on AI and macro trends keeps the firm visible to institutional clients and supports its wealth & investment‑management franchise positioning. That can help offset short‑term trading volatility. Morgan Stanley: AI Revolution Set to Disrupt Jobs and Energy Infrastructure
• Neutral Sentiment: Firm commentary on monetary policy (warning that rate cuts are unlikely soon) is driving market context rather than company-specific flows — it influences investor expectations for bank earnings broadly. Don’t Expect Interest Rate Cuts Anytime Soon, Says Morgan Stanley
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley trimmed a voting stake in Siemens Energy — a portfolio/positioning adjustment that is informational but not material to core operating results. Morgan Stanley Trims Siemens Energy Voting Stake
• Negative Sentiment: The primary near‑term driver: Morgan Stanley capped redemptions at its North Haven private‑income/private‑credit fund after investors requested ~10.9% in redemptions; the fund honored a 5% quarterly repurchase cap. That gating triggered investor concern about private‑credit liquidity and valuation transparency and was the proximate cause of a multi‑percent selloff in MS and other alternative‑asset managers. Morgan Stanley restricts redemptions at private credit fund
• Negative Sentiment: Private‑credit contagion and gating at other managers (Cliffwater, BlackRock coverage) amplified sector risk — investors rotated out of financials and alternative‑asset exposure on worries about defaults, liquidity and mark‑to‑model valuations. Morgan Stanley and Cliffwater limit private credit withdrawals (FT)
• Negative Sentiment: Negative sentiment was reinforced on social channels and media coverage, which likely exacerbated intraday selling pressure and short‑term volatility even though underlying wealth & advisory metrics remain more stable. Wall Street’s Own Stock Is Getting Hammered on Reddit

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $207.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.14.

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.