Morgan Stanley $MS Stock: VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Lowers Holdings

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al cut its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 356,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 36,000 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $66,994,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Partners Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% in the third quarter. Partners Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,143,000 after purchasing an additional 3,253 shares during the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,684,000 after buying an additional 1,161 shares during the last quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC now owns 14,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,805,000 after buying an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth about $119,000. Finally, Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $540,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $260.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Bank of America upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $205.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.62.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $184.38 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $152.80 and a twelve month high of $232.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $198.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $290.82 billion, a PE ratio of 14.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.22.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.10. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 19.40%. The firm had revenue of $20.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 36.51%.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong deal activity supports investment-banking momentum. Morgan Stanley ranked among the leading advisers by deal value in the automotive, technology, media and telecom, and power sectors during the first three quarters of 2026. Sustained M&A activity could support advisory-fee revenue. Mitsubishi UFJ and Morgan Stanley lead automotive M&A financial advisers’ list Morgan Stanley leads TMT M&A advisers
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is participating in a large AI infrastructure financing. The firm is part of a reported $63 billion financing structure involving Blackstone, Bank of America, and Citigroup to fund AI computing equipment leased to Anthropic. The transaction may create fee income and reinforce MS’s position in rapidly growing AI-related capital markets. Wall Street’s New $63 Billion AI Deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst visibility remains high, but investor attention is focused on valuation. Morgan Stanley was among the most-watched stocks on Zacks, while commentary questioned whether its strong multiyear rally and current valuation are justified by returns on capital and future earnings growth. Shares were recently below both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages, signaling continued technical pressure.
• Negative Sentiment: AI exposure also introduces risk concerns. Commentary on the Anthropic financing warned that lenders and investors could face losses if AI hardware becomes obsolete, utilization disappoints, or AI-related valuations decline. Such concerns may weigh on sentiment toward MS even though the deal offers potential fee opportunities. Can Morgan Stanley Justify Its Price After AI Deal Wins?

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, institutions, governments and individual investors. Founded in 1935, the company is headquartered in New York City and serves clients through operations across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other international markets.

Through its Institutional Securities segment, Morgan Stanley offers investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading, research, lending and related capital-markets services.