Viking Fund Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Viking Fund Management LLC cut its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 90,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,000 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises about 1.9% of Viking Fund Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Viking Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $15,978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 65.2% during the third quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 91.9% during the third quarter. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC now owns 213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 220.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect strong Q1 results — Street forecasts point to double‑digit EPS growth heading into the bank’s upcoming Q1 report, which supports the firm’s earnings momentum and valuation backing. Morgan Stanley’s Q1 2026 Earnings: What to Expect
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley continues to expand in digital assets and tokenization — the firm is building crypto and tokenized equities capabilities (executive interviews and filings), which could open new fee and custody revenue streams over time. Considering Tokenizing Every Asset Class: Morgan Stanley’s Oldenburg
• Positive Sentiment: Research team bullish on Europe energy — Morgan Stanley analysts see more upside in European energy stocks as structural supply risks from the Middle East reprice markets; positive for MS’s trading and advisory flows tied to energy clients. Morgan Stanley Sees More Gains Ahead for Europe’s Energy Stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley research flags a hawkish‑rates risk — a note pushing back on Fed cut expectations highlights macro caution; this shapes markets but is a mixed signal for MS (trading/IB benefit from volatility, but equity markets may pull back). Morgan Stanley issues stark warning on Fed rate outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Street coverage shifts and routine analyst activity — Morgan Stanley continues active coverage/price‑target work across the market (e.g., adjustments on third‑party names); these are normal sell‑side flows that can move individual stocks but are not company‑specific for MS. Zacks / analyst coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Private‑credit stress and fund redemption caps: reports show caps/limits on withdrawals at private‑credit funds and that Morgan Stanley capped redemptions on some products — this raises near‑term asset‑management and reputation risk and could pressure fee income and sentiment. Private credit’s ‘zero-loss fantasy’ is coming to an end MS caps withdrawals (coverage)
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks downgraded Morgan Stanley from “strong‑buy” to “hold,” a near‑term negative for perception and potential fund flows; analyst downgrades can amplify intraday selling even if fundamentals remain intact. Zacks downgrade

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $173.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $187.14.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.55, for a total value of $3,691,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 127,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,598,777.60. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $165.90 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $172.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $263.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.25, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.40. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. 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 39.18%.

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.