JFS Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 3,085 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 501.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,085 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Waddell & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 3,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $488,000 after buying an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 6,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.4% in the third quarter. Aspen Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 2,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at $212,000. Finally, Patten Group Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth $206,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Balance-sheet strength supports capital returns — Morgan Stanley reported a large liquidity cushion (about $385.9B average at 2025 year-end), an 8% dividend increase and still roughly $17.4B available under its $20B buyback program, which underpins shareholder returns and investor confidence. Does Morgan Stanley’s Liquidity Cushion Support Its Capital Returns?
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Investment Management activity — MSCP (the firm’s private equity arm) announced the acquisition of Security 101, signaling ongoing deal-flow and fee/carry generation from private markets that help diversify revenue. Morgan Stanley Capital Partners Acquires Security 101
• Positive Sentiment: Underlying fundamentals remain solid — Morgan Stanley’s most recent quarter beat consensus (Q4 EPS $2.68 vs. $2.28; revenue $17.9B vs. $17.69B) with double-digit revenue growth and healthy ROE, supporting the valuation multiple investors assign to a diversified bank/wealth franchise.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market attention and relative performance — coverage notes MS has been outperforming the S&P and drawing heavy investor searches, which can amplify intraday flows but isn’t a fundamental change. Is Morgan Stanley Stock Outperforming the S&P 500?
• Neutral Sentiment: Portfolio/holdings changes — Morgan Stanley (or its units) has adjusted positions in external names (e.g., ceasing to be a substantial holder in certain stocks); this reflects normal asset-management activity and is not company-operating news. Morgan Stanley Ceases to Be Substantial Holder in PLS Group
• Negative Sentiment: Cost pressure from advisor recruiting — reporting highlights that advisor-recruiting costs at Morgan Stanley have risen and could weigh on near-term profitability, a headwind to margins investors should monitor. Morgan Stanley’s Advisor Recruiting Costs Pile Up

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.93.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.55, for a total transaction of $3,691,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 127,872 shares in the company, valued at $23,598,777.60. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 8,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.08, for a total transaction of $1,547,680.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 119,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,690,826.24. This trade represents a 6.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $173.76 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $179.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $166.84. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $192.68. The firm has a market cap of $275.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 14.09%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.22 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.18%.

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.