Arax Advisory Partners Lowers Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Arax Advisory Partners decreased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 64.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 58,796 shares during the quarter. Arax Advisory Partners’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $5,785,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in 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 buying an additional 1,361,940 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in 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 buying an additional 539,544 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in 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 buying an additional 167,487 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in 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 buying an additional 534,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.1% in 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 buying an additional 524,189 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. HSBC boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup boosted their target price 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, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.35.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.7%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $214.19 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.84. The company has a market cap of $337.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $128.81 and a 52-week high of $219.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business’s quarterly 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. Analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders 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 dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 36.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares in the company, 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 through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the transaction, the insider owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 currently owned by company insiders.

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.