Abner Herrman & Brock LLC Cuts Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Abner Herrman & Brock LLC lessened its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 158,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,358 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley makes up about 2.9% of Abner Herrman & Brock LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Abner Herrman & Brock LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $28,077,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the third quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $929,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 3,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 2,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Cadence Bank grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 2,183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,102,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $173.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total transaction of $5,569,194.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 280,481 shares in the company, valued at $51,501,921.22. The trade was a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 127,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,598,777.60. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over 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.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wealth management scale — Morgan Stanley’s wealth arm reported IRA assets under management topping $1 trillion, a milestone that supports recurring fee revenue and client stickiness for MS’s highest‑margin business. MS Wealth Management IRA AUM Crosses $1T
• Positive Sentiment: Crypto product pipeline — Morgan Stanley Investment Management has advanced an S‑1 for a spot Bitcoin ETF (ticker MSBT on NYSE Arca). If approved, the trust could generate new fee income and position MS competitively in digital‑asset product distribution. Morgan Stanley Bitcoin ETF Filing Advances
• Positive Sentiment: Research/trading momentum — Morgan Stanley’s research desk has been active, including bullish calls around AI/semiconductor names (e.g., Nvidia). Strong research and trading flow can support investment‑banking and markets revenues in volatile tape. Morgan Stanley Sounds the Bullish Drum on Nvidia
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/update: Morgan Stanley revised its Fed timing — the firm now expects rate cuts later (September/December), which changes outlook for rates‑sensitive businesses but is a macro view rather than an immediate earnings shock. Morgan Stanley pushes back rate cuts to September and December
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical/positioning note — commentary that MS shows rising relative strength but remains shy of a key benchmark is informational for traders assessing momentum, not a company fundamental. Morgan Stanley shows rising relative strength
• Negative Sentiment: Private‑credit liquidity scare — Morgan Stanley limited redemptions from its North Haven Private Income Fund after a surge in withdrawal requests and flagged rising default risks tied to AI disruption in parts of private credit. That raises short‑term liquidity and reputational risk and could pressure earnings or require provisioning. Morgan Stanley Tests Private Credit Liquidity
• Negative Sentiment: Market‑risk warnings: Morgan Stanley flagged a possible 15%–20% downside for Asian equities if energy risks persist. Those calls reflect the firm’s risk views but also signal potential mark‑to‑market pressure across asset inventories and client portfolios. Morgan Stanley flags 15%–20% downside for Asia stocks

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $158.60 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.33 and a 52-week high of $192.68. The stock has a market cap of $251.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.53, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $173.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $168.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 14.09%.The company’s revenue 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. Equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 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.