Nexus Investment Management ULC Has $20.78 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Nexus Investment Management ULC decreased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 11.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 117,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,000 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley accounts for approximately 2.8% of Nexus Investment Management ULC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Nexus Investment Management ULC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $20,776,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mayport LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $219,000. Modera Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,424,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Register Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $883,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, TPG Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $204,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: UBS upgraded Morgan Stanley to a Buy and set a $196 price target, highlighting wealth‑management strength and positioning the stock for upside versus peers. Time to buy shares of Morgan Stanley, says UBS
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley will debut its spot Bitcoin ETF (ticker MSBT) on NYSE Arca tomorrow; the fund holds physical BTC, tracks the CoinDesk 4PM NY rate, and charges a low 0.14% sponsor fee — a potential new revenue and flow source if ETF inflows materialize. MSBT: Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin ETF Ready for Launch Tomorrow
• Positive Sentiment: Firm is launching a private‑credit fund to capture dislocations in private credit markets — an asset-management growth lever if fundraising succeeds and APR spreads remain attractive. Morgan Stanley Capitalizes On Private Credit Dislocation With New Fund
• Neutral Sentiment: Jefferies expects US banks — including MS — to deliver solid Q1 results driven by trading activity; this is supportive but market‑sensitive ahead of earnings. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley seen riding trading boom as dealmaking holds firm, Jefferies says
• Neutral Sentiment: Corporate calendar items: MS set to report/host key events (earnings focus and direct‑lending updates) — catalysts that can swing intraday volatility but don’t change the medium‑term thesis. Dear Morgan Stanley Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for April 15 Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Sets Q1 2026 Results Call
• Negative Sentiment: Several sell‑side shops trimmed price targets (Evercore/BMO cut targets; Daiwa lowered its PT to $175) — these revisions cap near‑term upside and reflect differing views on valuation and bank cyclicality. Evercore adjusts price target on Morgan Stanley Daiwa Securities adjusts price target on Morgan Stanley to 175
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage flags execution risk in newer initiatives (private‑credit fundraising while investor flows soften) — a potential headwind if markets stress and fundraising slows. Morgan Stanley plans private credit fund even as investors flee

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. HSBC dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $153.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. UBS Group raised Morgan Stanley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $195.00 to $196.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $189.94.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $168.02 on Wednesday. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.53. The company has a market cap of $266.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.19. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $97.89 and a 52-week high of $192.68.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 39.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total transaction of $3,966,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 171,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,464,920. The trade was a 11.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total value of $5,569,194.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 280,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,501,921.22. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506 in the last quarter. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.