Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Cuts Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lessened its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 848,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 48,026 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley makes up approximately 1.9% of Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $134,866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,123,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,779,734,000 after acquiring an additional 1,354,142 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,045,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,387,005,000 after purchasing an additional 749,150 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,234,883,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,438,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,894,023,000 after purchasing an additional 374,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.3% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,980,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,546,659,000 after purchasing an additional 28,420 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Dbs Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.77.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $176.99 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $281.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.15, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $181.98. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $166.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $152.90.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.40% and a net margin of 13.85%.The firm had revenue of $17.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.03%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,493,199.24. This trade represents a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: MS is widely reported as a front‑runner to lead the SpaceX IPO — a lead role would bring large underwriting fees and prestige that typically lift investment‑banking revenue expectations. Morgan Stanley seen as front-runner for SpaceX IPO, sources say
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support has picked up: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and others keep favorable ratings and recent coverage includes a higher price target, reinforcing buyside momentum. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Raises Morgan Stanley Price Target to $202.00
• Positive Sentiment: Ongoing analyst activity from large brokerages (including Morgan Stanley’s own research upgrades on major tech names) highlights the firm’s influential research footprint — a plus for institutional distribution and trading flows. Morgan Stanley Upgrades Accenture (ACN) to Overweight, Raises Target to $320
• Neutral Sentiment: MS is approaching its Q4 reporting window; previews expect single‑digit EPS growth — that lowers the bar but keeps upside tied to trading and underwriting beats. Morgan Stanley Earnings Preview: What to Expect
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader industry commentary (Zacks / sector pieces) flags investment banks as beneficiaries of better trading and underwriting markets — supportive context but not unique to MS. 3 Stocks to Buy From the Prospering Investment Banking Industry
• Negative Sentiment: Not all signals are uniformly bullish — there was a near‑term pullback/weakness noted in commentary yesterday, underscoring that momentum could reverse if trading revenue or deal news disappoints. Morgan Stanley (MS) Stock Slides as Market Rises: Facts to Know Before You Trade

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.