Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations cut its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 30.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 42,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 18,664 shares during the period. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $6,735,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 100.6% in the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 24,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,851,000 after purchasing an additional 12,147 shares during the period. GK Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth $225,000. Mechanics Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 6,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,048,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at $8,206,000. Finally, Krilogy Financial LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 20.1% during the third quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 16,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,778,000 after buying an additional 2,819 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley rehired veteran dealmaker Michael Grimes to lead investment banking — a move that should strengthen MS’s IB origination and M&A capabilities and supports longer‑term fees if deal flow recovers. MSN: Morgan Stanley rehires Grimes
• Positive Sentiment: MS research boosted Micron (MU) estimates and price target — shows the firm’s research franchise is influential and can support trading and investment‑banking positioning around AI/semi names (ancillary benefit to MS revenue mix). Benzinga: Micron pops after Morgan Stanley praise
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley published broad AI research (scanned ~3,600 stocks) and guidance on how to pick AI winners — positions MS as a market thought leader that may drive trading/research client activity but is not an immediate earnings catalyst. MarketWatch: MS examined 3,600 stocks amid AI shakeout
• Neutral Sentiment: MS presented at the UBS Financial Services conference (management / strategy disclosure). Such appearances provide transparency on strategy (wealth pivot, expense guidance) — useful to investors but typically incremental. Seeking Alpha: MS UBS conference transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market headwinds and rotation/volatility in AI‑led software are weighing on risk assets; Morgan Stanley’s stock is likely being affected by profit‑taking and sector volatility despite positive company moves. Morgan Stanley has also flagged macro/market credit risks tied to the AI selloff narrative. Yahoo: AI-led software selloff may pose risk

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.6%

MS stock opened at $176.88 on Thursday. 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 has a market capitalization of $281.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.20. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.33 and a 52-week high of $192.68. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $181.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $164.75.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $31,464,920. This represents a 11.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly owned 127,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,598,777.60. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. 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 ISI cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Three 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $185.93.

About Morgan Stanley

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.