BXM Wealth LLC Cuts Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

BXM Wealth LLC lessened its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 86.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,750 shares during the period. BXM Wealth LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,253,554,000 after buying an additional 1,361,940 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 103,854,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,437,334,000 after buying an additional 539,544 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,321,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,343,523,000 after buying an additional 167,487 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,070,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,786,350,000 after acquiring an additional 534,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,018,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,441,505,000 after acquiring an additional 524,189 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total value of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their position. 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 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on MS. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Evercore raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. HSBC boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $194.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.50.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets raised its price target on Morgan Stanley to $240 from $220 and kept an Outperform rating, signaling confidence in further upside. MarketScreener article
• Positive Sentiment: The company also announced a higher quarterly dividend and a new $20 billion share repurchase authorization, which should appeal to income and capital-return investors. Yahoo Finance article
• Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment around Morgan Stanley has also been helped by broader optimism on IPOs and equity issuance, which could support the firm’s investment banking franchise if deal activity stays strong into 2026. Stocktwits article
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is being cited in several third-party articles, including commentary on broader market themes and sector stock picks, which adds visibility but does not appear to be a direct earnings catalyst. Yahoo Finance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage also notes that Morgan Stanley continues to make stock calls across utilities, beverage, and other sectors, reinforcing its role as a market-moving analyst but not changing MS fundamentals by itself.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS stock opened at $212.16 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $135.26 and a twelve month high of $230.47. The firm has a market cap of $334.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.22, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $203.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 36.23%.

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.