First Merchants Corp Decreases Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Posted by ABMN Staff on Jun 23rd, 2026

First Merchants Corp cut its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) by 54.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,622 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $500,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Fielder Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 4,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $748,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 3,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $635,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.8%

MS opened at $227.19 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $200.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $183.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $358.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.58, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $130.90 and a fifty-two week high of $230.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

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

Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is reportedly weighing an expansion in Dallas through a $1.33 billion office-building deal, which could signal continued growth in its Texas footprint and long-term investment in a major financial hub. Morgan Stanley Weighs Expansion to Dallas With $1.33 Billion Office-Building Deal
Positive Sentiment: Financial stocks were generally moving higher in afternoon trading, providing a favorable backdrop for Morgan Stanley and other large banks and brokers. Sector Update: Financial Stocks Rise in Afternoon Trading
Neutral Sentiment: There was also broader market chatter about Morgan Stanley’s crypto ETF fee strategy, which may be keeping the company in investor focus, though it is not a direct stock catalyst by itself. Morgan Stanley targets crypto ETF fee crown – while Franklin Templeton wants your stock dividends buying bitcoin

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.35.

Get Our Latest Report on Morgan Stanley

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Profile

(Free Report)

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.