Wealthfront Advisers LLC Has $25.05 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 157,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,876 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $25,048,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 645.8% during the second quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 65.2% during the 3rd quarter. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 91.9% in the third quarter. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC now owns 213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of MS opened at $182.32 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $180.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $164.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The stock has a market cap of $289.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.20. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $192.68.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on MS. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $207.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Evercore cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.93.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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 Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 15,838 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.77, for a total transaction of $2,942,225.26. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 135,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,135,424.08. This represents a 10.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.61, for a total value of $6,020,286.48. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 357,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,254,222.62. This represents a 8.45% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.