Todd Asset Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Todd Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 379,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,533 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up 1.2% of Todd Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Todd Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $60,267,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $2,234,883,000. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 23.4% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,357,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,318,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,776,544 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 319.7% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,092,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $294,727,000 after purchasing an additional 1,593,774 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 18.1% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,623,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,355,537,000 after purchasing an additional 1,476,372 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,123,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,779,734,000 after buying an additional 1,354,142 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Michael Grimes’ return to Morgan Stanley is being framed as catalyzing a rebound in technology IPO activity — investors see this as potentially boosting MS’s investment banking fees and market positioning in the tech IPO cycle. Michael Grimes Return Puts Morgan Stanley At Center Of Tech IPO Cycle
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Investment Management is reportedly exploring a ~$500M continuation vehicle for India healthcare assets — a sign the firm is leveraging its asset‑management platform to generate fee income and secondary-market activity. That bolsters the revenue mix beyond trading/IB. Morgan Stanley said to consider $500 million India fund, shifts some assets
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Research is publishing bullish thematic work (private AVs, AI/semiconductors and “buy‑the‑dip” views on resilient software names) that supports expectations for advisory and sales flow into technology and infrastructure sectors where MS has coverage and syndication presence. That research momentum can lift investor sentiment. Private AV Startups are About to Take Over U.S. Streets
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley research pieces (e.g., recommended AI‑chip names) and analyst notes highlighting buy opportunities in software/semiconductors help the firm’s visible franchise, but are indirect drivers of near‑term stock moves — they mainly influence flow into sectors MS covers. SNDK or QCOM: Morgan Stanley Picks One Top AI Semiconductor Stock to Buy
• Negative Sentiment: Offsetting the positives, reporting that CEO Ted Pick’s total pay rose ~32% to ~$45M draws governance and cost scrutiny — some investors interpret large executive pay increases as a potential negative for shareholder alignment and a near‑term headline risk. Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick’s pay rises 32% to $45 million

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.55, for a total value of $3,691,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total value of $5,569,194.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 280,481 shares in the company, valued at $51,501,921.22. This represents a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MS. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $211.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $157.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $171.40 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $180.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $165.27. The stock has a market cap of $272.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.79, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $192.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued 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 net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.92%. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current 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%.

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.