Rockland Trust Co. Acquires Shares of 70,548 Morgan Stanley $MS

Rockland Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 70,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,214,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. First National Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 48,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,742,000 after buying an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 157,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,048,000 after acquiring an additional 5,876 shares during the period. Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% during the third quarter. Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,037 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,626,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 43.0% in the third quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. now owns 3,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $523,000 after acquiring an additional 989 shares during the period. Finally, Arista Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 40.0% in the third quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,113,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. HSBC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Evercore downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.93.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s Q4 results and the sectorwide rebound in trading and deal activity are supporting investor confidence — MS reported a Q4 earnings beat and revenue growth (quarterly EPS and revenue topped expectations), which underpins the stock’s gain today.
• Positive Sentiment: MS research/coverage is driving flows into niche sectors (notably bitcoin miners and some AI-related names); several miners and tech stocks rallied after Morgan Stanley initiated/upgraded coverage, which helps overall market sentiment for the firm as a research leader. Two Bitcoin Miners Rise On Morgan Stanley Coverage, AI Potential
• Neutral Sentiment: Market writeups continue to list MS among the investment‑banking leaders benefiting from solid Q4 results and stronger trading/deal activity, which supports a constructive narrative but is already priced into large-cap bank multiples. 3 Must-Buy Investment Bank Behemoths After Solid Q4 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Ongoing analyst activity from MS (revisions and coverage changes across names like Duolingo and Cardinal Health) highlights the firm’s influential research flow — supportive for MS’s fee and research positioning but not an immediate earnings driver for MS itself. Morgan Stanley Cuts Duolingo PT to $245
• Negative Sentiment: Evercore/other outlets trimmed their stance on Morgan Stanley (cut to Hold), creating some short‑term headwind and reminding investors there are near‑term execution/valuation concerns despite robust results. Morgan Stanley Cut to Hold at Evercore

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $3,966,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 171,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,464,920. This represents a 11.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.55, for a total transaction of $3,691,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 127,872 shares in the company, valued at $23,598,777.60. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of MS opened at $182.32 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-year high of $192.68. The company has a market capitalization of $289.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $180.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $164.42.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 39.18%.

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.