Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Sells 82,978 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lowered its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 535,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 82,978 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $85,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 65.2% in the 3rd quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth $32,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC grew 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 worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $211.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.14.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS opened at $160.88 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $177.12 and its 200 day moving average is $168.18. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $192.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $255.45 billion, a PE ratio of 15.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.20.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 14.09%.The business had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.22 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 39.18%.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is hiring contract staff in Hong Kong to handle a surge in IPOs and listings — a sign of stronger investment‑banking deal flow in Asia that could boost fees if activity continues. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Street support: at least one major bank recently nudged Morgan Stanley’s modeled upside (price‑target lift noted in market reports), which can attract buyers and help underpin the stock in the near term.
• Neutral Sentiment: Strategic initiatives and partnerships (EquityZen buyout, crypto custody tie‑ups, conference presentations) are being highlighted by coverage as longer‑term growth levers for wealth and markets businesses; these are strategic positives but take time to show through in results. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Morgan Stanley restricted redemptions at one of its private‑credit funds after investors sought to withdraw ~11% of the fund — a liquidity/flow strain that raises questions about mark‑to‑market, client confidence, and potential reputational or capital impacts for the direct‑lending franchise. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Independent coverage and investor pieces are flagging risks in the direct‑lending / private‑credit business (discounts to NAV, yield dynamics), which could pressure valuations or fund distributions if outflows continue. Article Title

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 127,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,598,777.60. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.