Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Has $39.31 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 221,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,900 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $39,307,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 65.2% during the 3rd quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE MS opened at $190.30 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $171.52 and a 200-day moving average of $172.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $300.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.22. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $117.21 and a 52 week high of $194.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 36.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley strategists say robust US tech earnings are outweighing geopolitical worries (the Iran war), supporting equity markets and trading volumes — a favorable backdrop for MS’s trading and investment‑banking businesses. Morgan Stanley Sees Tech Earnings Eclipsing Iran War for Stocks
• Positive Sentiment: MS research projects hyperscaler AI capex surging past $800B in 2026 — a major structural theme that boosts advisory, capital markets activity and wealth/asset-management flows tied to tech exposure. That bullish tech narrative supports MS’s franchise across multiple fee pools. David Sacks Says AI Could Drive 75% Of US GDP Growth As Morgan Stanley Sees Big Tech AI Capex Surging Past $800 Billion In 2026
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s bitcoin ETP (MSBT) drew roughly $100M in six days — evidence of strong investor demand for MS-branded products and a potential new fee/asset stream even as regulatory limits constrain banks from holding crypto on balance sheets. Early flows validate MS’s product distribution capability. Why U.S. Banks Still Can’t Hold Bitcoin Despite Massive Demand
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley analysts remain active and visible — e.g., the firm raised Apple price targets and has been publishing company-specific moves — supporting MS’s research reputation but with mixed near-term trading impact. Research/ratings help franchise positioning more than immediate P&L. Morgan Stanley Raises Apple (AAPL) Price Target, Keeps Overweight Rating
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory limits remain a constraint on how U.S. banks can hold crypto directly (Fed/Basel), which could limit the scale or margin profile of MS’s crypto-related offerings over time — a potential headwind to fully monetizing demand. Why U.S. Banks Still Can’t Hold Bitcoin Despite Massive Demand

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.89.

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.