GW&K Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

GW&K Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 300,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,082 shares during the quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $47,721,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.1% in the third quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 3,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 2,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,102,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 6,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.0%

MS stock opened at $167.59 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $192.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $266.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 39.18%.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley filed amended registration for spot crypto ETFs and named Coinbase and BNY Mellon as custodians — a concrete step into ETF products that could generate new AUM and fee revenue if approved by the SEC. Morgan Stanley taps Coinbase and BNY for Bitcoin ETF custody
• Positive Sentiment: Firm-level research and public messaging (including bullish market notes) position Morgan Stanley to benefit from ongoing AI and market rotations — supports investment-banking deal flow and wealth-management client activity over time. Morgan Stanley Maintains Bullish US Stock Outlook Despite Iran Conflict
• Neutral Sentiment: Comments and takeaways from the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom conference are raising sector-level interest (Google CFO and other tech commentary) — useful for sentiment and MS’s research/relationships, but not an immediate earnings catalyst. These Are the Key Future Growth Drivers that Google’s CFO Just Highlighted
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley will cut roughly 3% of its global workforce (~2,500 jobs) across investment banking, trading and wealth-management lines — cost-saving but a signal of margin pressure and potential near-term severance/one-time charges and execution risk. That news is likely weighing on sentiment for risk assets tied to fee growth. Morgan Stanley to cut about 3% of workforce across key divisions

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $3,966,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 171,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,464,920. This trade represents a 11.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.61, for a total transaction of $6,020,286.48. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 357,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,254,222.62. This trade represents a 8.45% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Evercore cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.