Banco Santander S.A. Has $67.02 Million Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Banco Santander S.A. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 421,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,161 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley makes up 0.6% of Banco Santander S.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $67,020,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 739,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $117,533,000 after purchasing an additional 18,914 shares in the last quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 38.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $576,000 after buying an additional 1,014 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 790,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $125,603,000 after buying an additional 6,368 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 52,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,356,000 after buying an additional 1,413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 22.0% during the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 6,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,080,000 after buying an additional 1,227 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total transaction of $5,569,194.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 280,481 shares in the company, valued at $51,501,921.22. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 8,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.08, for a total value of $1,547,680.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 119,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,690,826.24. This represents a 6.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong capital returns and balance-sheet cushion support the rally — coverage notes Morgan Stanley ended 2025 with a large liquidity cushion and a $20B buyback plan (about $17.4B still available) alongside an 8% dividend increase, which investors view as shareholder-friendly and supportive of the stock. Does Morgan Stanley’s Liquidity Cushion Support Its Capital Returns?
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley asset-management product update — Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (MSDL) reported Q4 results and declared a dividend, underscoring fee-income/alternative-asset momentum inside MS’s wealth & asset-management franchises. That supports the idea of more stable fee streams. Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Posts Q4 Results, Declares Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: Recent fundamentals: MS beat Q4/Jan-quarter EPS and revenue expectations (January 15 release) and consensus still models mid‑single-digit earnings growth for the year — that underlying operating beat remains a tailwind for sentiment.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market-performance commentary and analyst attention — coverage noting MS has outperformed the S&P recently can attract momentum flows but also raises expectations for continued delivery. Is Morgan Stanley Stock Outperforming the S&P 500?
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory / institutional moves — filings show Morgan Stanley altering some substantial‑holder positions in third parties, a normal part of portfolio/institutional activity; watch for any larger balance-sheet or trading-book disclosures. Morgan Stanley Ceases to Be Substantial Holder in PLS Group
• Negative Sentiment: Advisor‑recruiting and wealth‑channel costs are a material headwind — Barron’s highlights rising recruiting costs for advisors at Morgan Stanley, which can pressure margins in the Wealth Management segment and temper near‑term earnings leverage. That is likely constraining part of the valuation multiple today. Morgan Stanley’s Advisor Recruiting Costs Pile Up

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $177.46 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $180.05 and its 200-day moving average is $166.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $281.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17.38, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.20. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week 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 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.78%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.22 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was 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 (DPR) is 39.18%.

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.