Carmel Capital Partners LLC Sells 2,973 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Carmel Capital Partners LLC decreased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 28.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,973 shares during the period. Carmel Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,205,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Norges Bank bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,234,883,000. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 23.4% during the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,357,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,318,055,000 after buying an additional 1,776,544 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 319.7% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,092,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $294,727,000 after buying an additional 1,593,774 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 18.1% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,623,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,355,537,000 after buying an additional 1,476,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,123,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,779,734,000 after buying an additional 1,354,142 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.2%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $183.00 on Friday. 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 $192.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $290.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $176.63 and a 200 day moving average of $160.79.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.92%. The company’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.18%.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley was selected as one of the lead banks for the anticipated SpaceX IPO — a high‑visibility mandate that can generate significant fees and bolster investment-banking sentiment for MS. Elon Musk’s SpaceX lines up 4 banks for blockbuster IPO
• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly banking context: the “Big Six” U.S. banks delivered strong bottom‑line Q4 results and Morgan Stanley was cited as an exception to the broader post‑earnings bank selloff — supporting investor confidence in MS’s earnings trajectory and ROE. Bank Stocks: Another Quarter of Double-Digit S&P 500 Earnings Growth?
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley research flagged geopolitical and policy risks (U.S. policy and Trump-era trade/debt positions) that could influence dollar dominance and macro flows — useful for positioning but not an immediate stock catalyst. Trump policies put dollar dominance under fresh global scrutiny
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider stock sales at Morgan Stanley were disclosed this week — multiple senior executives filed Form 4s selling sizable blocks (examples include Michael Pizzi, Andrew Saperstein, Eric Grossman, Sharon Yeshaya and others). Concentrated insider selling can increase near‑term selling pressure and raise investor caution. Insider sale SEC filing (Michael A. Pizzi)

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 127,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,598,777.60. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total value of $5,569,194.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 280,481 shares in the company, valued at $51,501,921.22. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 196,223 shares of company stock valued at $34,150,220. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.93.

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.