Tradewinds LLC. Invests $9.77 Million in Morgan Stanley $MS

Tradewinds LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 61,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,768,000. Morgan Stanley makes up about 2.4% of Tradewinds LLC.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 645.8% in the second quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 91.9% in the third quarter. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC now owns 213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 57.1% during the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s strong Q4 beat and record full‑year revenue have prompted fresh valuation reviews and reinforced confidence in earnings momentum — a key driver for higher multiple re‑ratings and buying interest. Assessing Morgan Stanley (MS) Valuation After Strong Q4 Beat And Record Full Year Revenue
• Positive Sentiment: BNP Paribas raised its MS price target to $195 from $170 — an explicit analyst signal that supports further upside and may trigger flows from target‑driven buyers. BNP Paribas Lifts Price Target on Morgan Stanley
• Positive Sentiment: Independent broker commentary and analysts (Keefe, Bruyette & Woods; others) are publicly forecasting upside for MS, reinforcing the narrative of re‑rating after the quarterly outperformance. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Price Expected to Rise
• Positive Sentiment: MS was included on Zacks’ January 19 list of top income (Zacks #1) stocks — a visibility boost that can attract income‑oriented and model‑portfolio buyers. Best Income Stocks to Buy for January 19th
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary highlights that Morgan Stanley’s research franchise remains active (e.g., coverage on Uber and upgrades on other names such as Rocket Lab), which supports fee and advisory flows but is ancillary to MS’s own trading/wealth performance. Market is Undervaluing Uber Technologies’ (UBER) Core Mobility Business, Morgan Stanley Says
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary upgraded MS but reiterated valuation concerns — a mixed signal that can support higher ratings while reminding investors multiples are elevated versus historical norms. Morgan Stanley: I Was Overly Critical But Valuation Worries Are Real (Rating Upgrade)

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at $94,493,199.24. This represents a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $189.17 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $175.22 and a 200-day moving average of $159.90. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $192.68. The stock has a market cap of $300.65 billion, a PE ratio of 18.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion for 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 16.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 39.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $207.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday. Zacks Research upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, HSBC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.93.

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.