Morgan Stanley $MS Stock: VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Reduces Holdings

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lowered its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 356,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 36,000 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $66,994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth approximately $78,825,883,310. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,326,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,686,881,000 after acquiring an additional 87,533 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.7% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,206,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,342,532,000 after acquiring an additional 188,296 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.5% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 9,794,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,611,846,000 after acquiring an additional 422,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,235,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,190,585,000 after purchasing an additional 65,739 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 3.0%

NYSE:MS opened at $184.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $290.82 billion, a PE ratio of 14.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $198.11 and its 200 day moving average is $194.29. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $152.80 and a 12 month high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $20.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.93 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 15.63%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.80 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $243.00 to $195.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.62.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong deal activity supports investment-banking momentum. Morgan Stanley ranked among the leading advisers by deal value in the automotive, technology, media and telecom, and power sectors during the first three quarters of 2026. Sustained M&A activity could support advisory-fee revenue. Mitsubishi UFJ and Morgan Stanley lead automotive M&A financial advisers’ list Morgan Stanley leads TMT M&A advisers
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is participating in a large AI infrastructure financing. The firm is part of a reported $63 billion financing structure involving Blackstone, Bank of America, and Citigroup to fund AI computing equipment leased to Anthropic. The transaction may create fee income and reinforce MS’s position in rapidly growing AI-related capital markets. Wall Street’s New $63 Billion AI Deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst visibility remains high, but investor attention is focused on valuation. Morgan Stanley was among the most-watched stocks on Zacks, while commentary questioned whether its strong multiyear rally and current valuation are justified by returns on capital and future earnings growth. Shares were recently below both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages, signaling continued technical pressure.
• Negative Sentiment: AI exposure also introduces risk concerns. Commentary on the Anthropic financing warned that lenders and investors could face losses if AI hardware becomes obsolete, utilization disappoints, or AI-related valuations decline. Such concerns may weigh on sentiment toward MS even though the deal offers potential fee opportunities. Can Morgan Stanley Justify Its Price After AI Deal Wins?

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, institutions, governments and individual investors. Founded in 1935, the company is headquartered in New York City and serves clients through operations across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other international markets.

Through its Institutional Securities segment, Morgan Stanley offers investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading, research, lending and related capital-markets services.