Nexus Investment Management ULC Has $20.78 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Nexus Investment Management ULC lessened its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 117,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,000 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up approximately 2.8% of Nexus Investment Management ULC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Nexus Investment Management ULC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $20,776,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth approximately $3,503,000. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.0% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 237,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,431,000 after buying an additional 7,022 shares during the last quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 5.1% during the second quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 5,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $771,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth approximately $691,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $168.02 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $266.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.19. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $97.89 and a 1 year high of $192.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $168.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.53.

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. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 14.09%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.22 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.18%.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $3,966,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 171,005 shares in the company, valued at $31,464,920. This represents a 11.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.55, for a total value of $3,691,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 127,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,598,777.60. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $215.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Daiwa Securities Group reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $173.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $189.94.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: UBS upgraded Morgan Stanley to a Buy and set a $196 price target, highlighting wealth‑management strength and positioning the stock for upside versus peers. Time to buy shares of Morgan Stanley, says UBS
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley will debut its spot Bitcoin ETF (ticker MSBT) on NYSE Arca tomorrow; the fund holds physical BTC, tracks the CoinDesk 4PM NY rate, and charges a low 0.14% sponsor fee — a potential new revenue and flow source if ETF inflows materialize. MSBT: Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin ETF Ready for Launch Tomorrow
• Positive Sentiment: Firm is launching a private‑credit fund to capture dislocations in private credit markets — an asset-management growth lever if fundraising succeeds and APR spreads remain attractive. Morgan Stanley Capitalizes On Private Credit Dislocation With New Fund
• Neutral Sentiment: Jefferies expects US banks — including MS — to deliver solid Q1 results driven by trading activity; this is supportive but market‑sensitive ahead of earnings. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley seen riding trading boom as dealmaking holds firm, Jefferies says
• Neutral Sentiment: Corporate calendar items: MS set to report/host key events (earnings focus and direct‑lending updates) — catalysts that can swing intraday volatility but don’t change the medium‑term thesis. Dear Morgan Stanley Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for April 15 Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Sets Q1 2026 Results Call
• Negative Sentiment: Several sell‑side shops trimmed price targets (Evercore/BMO cut targets; Daiwa lowered its PT to $175) — these revisions cap near‑term upside and reflect differing views on valuation and bank cyclicality. Evercore adjusts price target on Morgan Stanley Daiwa Securities adjusts price target on Morgan Stanley to 175
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage flags execution risk in newer initiatives (private‑credit fundraising while investor flows soften) — a potential headwind if markets stress and fundraising slows. Morgan Stanley plans private credit fund even as investors flee

Morgan Stanley 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.