Covea Finance Raises Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Covea Finance grew its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 30.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 130,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,200 shares during the period. Covea Finance’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $23,150,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. 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 valued at $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 12,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,702,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the period. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,285,000. DNB Asset Management AS raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 783,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $110,404,000 after purchasing an additional 5,229 shares during the period. Finally, Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 41.1% in the second quarter. Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc. now owns 33,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,788,000 after purchasing an additional 9,894 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley formally advanced its spot Bitcoin ETF registration (ticker MSBT), disclosing $1M seed capital, planned NYSE Arca listing, custodial partners (Coinbase/BNY Mellon) and named authorized participants — a potential new product that could bring fee revenue, increase client asset flows and reinforce MS’s digital-asset positioning. Morgan Stanley advances MSBT Bitcoin ETF with amended SEC filing
• Neutral Sentiment: MS research is publishing macro downside scenarios (e.g., elevated European gas risk and earlier ECB hikes) and revised rate‑cut timing — these calls can drive market volatility and trading flows that affect MS’s trading & principal revenues but are not direct corporate fundamentals. Europe gas refill risks rise; MS flags €90 TTF scenario
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley limited redemptions in a private‑credit vehicle and publicly flagged rising default/liquidity risk in parts of private credit — a near‑term negative for asset‑management fee stability, client confidence and potential reputational risk if outflows/credit losses broaden. Investors may be re‑pricing wealth & asset‑management exposure. Morgan Stanley Tests Private Credit Liquidity As AI Risks Surface

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MS shares. Barclays upped 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. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $211.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.14.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $161.47 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $173.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $168.43. The firm has a market cap of $256.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $192.68.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th were given 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 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.18%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.55, for a total transaction of $3,691,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 127,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,598,777.60. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 15,838 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.77, for a total value of $2,942,225.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 135,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,135,424.08. This trade represents a 10.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.