DNB Asset Management AS Has $125.60 Million Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

DNB Asset Management AS increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 790,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,368 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $125,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Choreo LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 52,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,356,000 after purchasing an additional 1,413 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 22.0% in the 3rd quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 6,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,080,000 after buying an additional 1,227 shares in the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.8% in the third quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 3,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $613,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Interchange Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 15.2% in the third quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC now owns 14,695 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,335,000 after acquiring an additional 1,943 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.0% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,385,773 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,242,000 after acquiring an additional 68,450 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $177.46 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $192.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $180.05 and its 200-day moving average is $166.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $281.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.38, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.20.

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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.22 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’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 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given 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 payout ratio is presently 39.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 357,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,254,222.62. The trade was a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MS. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $211.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Evercore downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.