Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE trimmed its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 743,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,465 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $118,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 65.2% in the third quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. 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 boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 57.1% during the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s liquidity cushion and capital-return capacity look strong: Zacks notes MS ended 2025 with about $386B of average liquidity, an 8% dividend increase and roughly $17.4B still available under a $20B buyback program — supportive for dividends and buybacks that boost shareholder returns. Does Morgan Stanley’s Liquidity Cushion Support Its Capital Returns?
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Capital Partners (MSCP) continues active M&A/private equity investing — MSCP’s acquisition of Security 101 signals ongoing dealflow and fee‑generating activity in its investment management business. Morgan Stanley Capital Partners Acquires Security 101
• Neutral Sentiment: Ongoing analyst/research flow from Morgan Stanley (multiple TipRanks items) underscores the firm’s investment‑banking and research reach (a revenue driver over time) but isn’t a near‑term earnings surprise. Example: MS research cited on Trade Desk coverage. Trade Desk: Solid Kokai Adoption and CTV Momentum…
• Neutral Sentiment: Press and data show MS has recently outperformed the S&P 500 — supporting positive sentiment but not guaranteeing continued beat. Is Morgan Stanley Stock Outperforming the S&P 500?
• Negative Sentiment: Barron’s reports rising advisor‑recruiting costs at Morgan Stanley, which could pressure near‑term margins in wealth management — an important earnings driver for the bank. Morgan Stanley’s Advisor Recruiting Costs Pile Up
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/portfolio moves: a recent filing shows Morgan Stanley ceased to be a substantial holder in Pilbara Minerals — asset reductions by the firm (or its funds) can be read as portfolio rebalancing and may modestly affect trading flows. Morgan Stanley Ceases to Be Substantial Holder in PLS Group

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MS. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Barclays lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $173.76 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $179.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $166.84. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $192.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $275.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.18%.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 15,838 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.77, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total value of $5,569,194.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 280,481 shares in the company, valued at $51,501,921.22. The trade was a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.