Banco Santander S.A. Cuts Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Banco Santander S.A. lowered its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 416,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,857 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley makes up approximately 0.6% of Banco Santander S.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $73,988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $2,736,648,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,253,554,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,940 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2,332.9% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,406,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,710,000 after purchasing an additional 1,348,683 shares during the period. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth about $170,037,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 40.2% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,933,604 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $466,326,000 after purchasing an additional 841,263 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, CICC Research boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.35.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target on Morgan Stanley to $187 from $179 while keeping a neutral rating, signaling improved expectations even though the new target still implies downside from current levels.
• Positive Sentiment: Media coverage highlighted Morgan Stanley’s “wide awake” posture on M&A opportunities as the bank pursues a $10 trillion wealth-management ambition, which could support longer-term growth through acquisitions in advisors, private markets, and alternatives.
• Positive Sentiment: Additional reports emphasized Morgan Stanley’s continued strength in wealth management and its willingness to expand through inorganic growth, reinforcing the market’s view that the firm has multiple avenues for revenue growth.
• Neutral Sentiment: One article noted Morgan Stanley’s stock has climbed near its 52-week high, which may be drawing attention to valuation and limiting upside in the near term.
• Neutral Sentiment: Erste Group slightly lowered its FY2026 EPS estimate to $11.97 from $12.00, a minor change that does not appear to have altered the broader bullish tone.
• Negative Sentiment: Some market commentary continues to frame Morgan Stanley’s valuation as stretched after a strong rally, and the stock’s proximity to its 52-week high may prompt profit-taking.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $214.19 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $128.81 and a twelve month high of $219.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The company has a market capitalization of $337.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.84.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total value of $2,779,935.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 in the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.