Piedmont Capital Management LLC NC Acquires New Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Piedmont Capital Management LLC NC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 4,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $787,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at $78,825,883,310. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,326,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,686,881,000 after purchasing an additional 87,533 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.7% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,206,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,342,532,000 after purchasing an additional 188,296 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.5% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 9,794,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,611,846,000 after purchasing an additional 422,775 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,235,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,190,585,000 after purchasing an additional 65,739 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley, along with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, reportedly captured nearly 80% of the top five banks’ equity-trading revenue so far in 2026, generating a combined $52 billion. Demand from hedge funds for leveraged artificial-intelligence and semiconductor trades has been a major growth driver for the firm’s markets business. Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are dominating the AI stock boom
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s chief U.S. equity strategist, Mike Wilson, said the market correction is nearing its end and projected the S&P 500 could reach 8,500 by mid-2027. A more optimistic market outlook could support wealth-management assets, investment banking activity and trading volumes. Morgan Stanley’s Mike Wilson Says Market Correction Nearly Over
• Positive Sentiment: The firm named Howmet Aerospace its top aerospace-sector pick, replacing FTAI Aviation, signaling continued confidence in aerospace investment-banking and research activity ahead of third-quarter earnings. Morgan Stanley Names Top Aerospace Pick to Replace FTAI
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s Single Advisory Platform won the 2026 MMI/Barron’s Wealth Management Advisory Platform of the Year award, reinforcing the strength of its advisory franchise and brand. Morgan Stanley Named 2026 Wealth Management Advisory Platform of the Year
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage describes Morgan Stanley as one of the more oversold financial stocks, which may attract bargain hunters but also underscores ongoing concerns about valuation and sector volatility. Top 3 Financial Stocks Which Could Rescue Your Portfolio In Q4
• Negative Sentiment: Exchange-traded funds were reported as net sellers of Morgan Stanley shares on October 19, creating a potential source of near-term selling pressure. ETFs Are Net Sellers of Morgan Stanley
• Negative Sentiment: A report questioning the yield offered by Morgan Stanley’s Series A preferred securities may weigh on income-oriented investor sentiment, although the issue relates primarily to the preferred stock rather than the common shares. Morgan Stanley Series A Preferreds: Yield Falls Short

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MS shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 target price (down from $250.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, July 6th. Zacks Research lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Finally, HSBC upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $215.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.62.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 3.6%

MS opened at $186.83 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $202.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $204.15. The firm has a market cap of $294.69 billion, a PE ratio of 14.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.22. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $152.80 and a twelve month high of $232.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.10. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 19.40%. The company had revenue of $20.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.81 EPS for the current year.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 36.51%.

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.