Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC Raises Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 89,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,981 shares during the period. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $14,237,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MS. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 91.9% in the third quarter. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC now owns 213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, First PREMIER Bank boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 57.1% during the third quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on MS shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $211.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated 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, seven have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 280,481 shares in the company, valued at $51,501,921.22. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.61, for a total transaction of $6,020,286.48. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $162.45 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $178.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.58. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-year high of $192.68. The firm has a market cap of $257.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. 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: Advanced filing to launch a spot Bitcoin trust — Morgan Stanley amended its S‑1 for a spot BTC Trust and named Coinbase and BNY Mellon as custody/administration partners, moving the firm closer to offering a passive bitcoin ETF. That product could create recurring fee revenue and expand MS’s asset-management offerings in crypto. Morgan Stanley taps Coinbase and BNY for Bitcoin ETF custody
• Neutral Sentiment: Provision of major loan facility to Core Scientific — MS provided an initial $500M facility (expandable to $1B) to Core Scientific to fund AI/data‑center build‑out. The deal generates origination and arrangement revenue but also increases exposure to a cyclical, crypto‑adjacent borrower; impact to credit metrics depends on future draw/repayment and collateral. Core Scientific secures up to $1B credit from Morgan Stanley for data centers
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst activity and ongoing franchise work — Morgan Stanley research continues to publish sector calls and price‑target moves (e.g., coverage updates on Brookfield and others). These are normal franchise activities that support fee generation but are not large single‑day catalysts for MS equity. Morgan Stanley Raises its Price Target on Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (BAM) to $63
• Negative Sentiment: Companywide layoffs (~2,500 roles, ~3% of workforce) across investment banking, trading, wealth and investment management — the cuts, reported broadly today, signal immediate cost reductions but also raise investor questions about revenue trends, AI‑driven restructuring and execution risk during the transition. That announcement appears to be a primary driver of today’s negative sentiment. Morgan Stanley Sheds 2,500 Employees in Companywide Layoffs
• Negative Sentiment: Shares underperforming the broader market after headlines — market coverage notes MS is down more than the index as investors digest the layoff and restructuring news along with franchise moves. Morgan Stanley (MS) Declines More Than Market: Some Information for Investors

Morgan Stanley 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.