First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Has $6.98 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 208.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 42,430 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,656 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $6,983,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $2,736,648,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 29.1% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,917,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,648,354,000 after buying an additional 3,364,080 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 142.4% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,122,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $511,723,000 after buying an additional 1,833,844 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,253,554,000 after buying an additional 1,361,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2,332.9% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,406,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,710,000 after buying an additional 1,348,683 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Daiwa Securities Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Dbs Bank increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.50.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS opened at $216.34 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $136.17 and a 52-week high of $232.25. The firm has a market cap of $341.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s fifty day moving average is $212.58 and its 200-day moving average is $189.27.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. The business had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 15.65%.Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 37.19%.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is being viewed as Wall Street’s leading bank for AI debt deals, boosting optimism about investment-banking and financing revenue tied to data-center buildouts.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and media reports point to continued strength in Morgan Stanley’s outlook, including an article noting that FY2026 EPS forecasts were lifted.
• Positive Sentiment: Separate commentary says Morgan Stanley remains constructive on multiple sectors, including semiconductors and AI-linked infrastructure, reinforcing its image as a well-positioned market bellwether. Article: Morgan Stanley becomes Wall Street’s top bank for AI debt deals
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor attention is also being driven by general search interest and media mentions around Morgan Stanley, which can add to short-term trading momentum. Article: Morgan Stanley (MS) is Attracting Investor Attention: Here is What You Should Know
• Negative Sentiment: At the same time, Morgan Stanley recently downgraded several software names, including Adobe and Salesforce, which underscores ongoing concerns about AI-related disruption in parts of tech and may temper enthusiasm elsewhere in the market.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.