20,195 Shares in Morgan Stanley $MS Acquired by Stokes Capital Advisors LLC

Stokes Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 20,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,585,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC increased 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 worth $34,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 220.0% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:MS opened at $165.63 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. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $192.68. The company has a market cap of $263.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.22, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $172.27 and a 200-day moving average of $168.90.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 39.18%.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong reported results and recent beats reinforce MS’s core revenue and trading franchise — record 2025 revenue and a Q4 EPS beat underpin the firm’s fundamentals and fee-generation outlook. MS Beats Market Upswing
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is in position for high‑profile investment‑banking mandates (SpaceX IPO chatter), which could support future IB fees and client pipeline if those deals proceed. SpaceX IPO Prediction Markets
• Positive Sentiment: Ongoing expansion into digital assets and tokenization (ETF filings, platform hires) supports new revenue lines — a strategic growth angle investors may value over the medium term. Morgan Stanley on Crypto Move
• Neutral Sentiment: Firm research is feeding market flow — Morgan Stanley’s AlphaWise smartphone data (positive for AAPL) and other thematic notes keep MS visible as a go‑to research house, which is revenue‑supportive but not an immediate stock catalyst. AlphaWise iPhone Survey
• Neutral Sentiment: Thought leadership/webinars (AI + software, AlphaSense partnership) help reputation and institutional engagement; useful for longer‑term positioning but not a direct short‑term earnings driver. AI vs Software Webinar
• Neutral Sentiment: Routine analyst activity — MS naming Intuit a top pick and other coverage moves show normal sell‑side reweighting that can influence sector flow but is company‑agnostic for MS’s own share price. Intuit Top Pick
• Negative Sentiment: Third‑party downgrade: Zacks lowered MS from “strong‑buy” to “hold” this morning — analyst tone and any rating drift can remove marginal buyers and pressure the stock. Zacks Downgrade/TickerReport
• Negative Sentiment: Sentiment disconnect: coverage noted that record earnings did not prevent a sharp pullback in shares (retail/social sentiment and short‑term positioning weighed), showing earnings beats alone aren’t calming speculative outflows. Record Earnings but Shares Fell
• Negative Sentiment: Macro risk: Morgan Stanley warned about a hawkish Fed outlook and higher‑for‑longer rate risk — a backdrop that can hurt risk appetite, raise funding costs and add volatility to MS trading and wealth‑management flows. MS Fed Rate Warning

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.61, for a total value of $6,020,286.48. Following the transaction, the insider owned 357,342 shares in the company, valued at $65,254,222.62. This trade represents a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider owned 280,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,501,921.22. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $173.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $211.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Friday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $187.14.

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.