Aigen Investment Management LP Takes $3.42 Million Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 19,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,423,000. Morgan Stanley makes up approximately 0.8% of Aigen Investment Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 103,854,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,437,334,000 after purchasing an additional 539,544 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,321,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,343,523,000 after purchasing an additional 167,487 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,070,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,786,350,000 after purchasing an additional 534,708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,018,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,441,505,000 after purchasing an additional 524,189 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on MS. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.35.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $214.19 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $193.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $180.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $128.81 and a 12-month high of $219.16. The firm has a market cap of $337.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The company’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total value of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at $69,224,370.48. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.