The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Trims Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Posted by Brian Himes on Sep 11th, 2026

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lessened its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) by 8.0% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,129,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 97,774 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $236,080,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth about $78,825,883,310. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 20,805.5% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 374,314,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,246,626,000 after purchasing an additional 372,523,624 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $2,736,648,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,040,227,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,917,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,648,354,000 after buying an additional 3,364,080 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley remains viewed favorably by some analysts and commentators because of its strong investment-banking and wealth-management businesses, recent earnings momentum, and valuation that is still described as attractive relative to other large financial institutions. 4 Thriving Investment Bank Behemoths to Buy With Attractive Valuation
Positive Sentiment: The firm is partnering with OpenAI to develop ChatGPT-based financial-services tools for Wall Street. The initiative could strengthen Morgan Stanley’s technology position and create longer-term efficiency or client-service benefits, although near-term financial effects remain unclear. OpenAI courts Wall Street with ChatGPT for financial services, developed with Morgan Stanley
Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s latest reported quarter showed strong operating momentum: earnings per share of $3.46 exceeded expectations, revenue reached $21.35 billion, and revenue increased 27.1% year over year. Those results provide fundamental support, but they are not a new catalyst in the current session.
Negative Sentiment: Market-wide risk aversion is weighing on financial stocks. Morgan Stanley strategists have identified higher oil prices and interest rates as key risks to equities, while rising yields can pressure valuations and reduce investor appetite for economically sensitive stocks. Brent Tops $100 as Morgan Stanley Warns Oil, Rates Are Main Risks to Stocks
Negative Sentiment: After gaining more than 20% over the past six months, Morgan Stanley may be vulnerable to profit-taking. The latest commentary specifically noted that the stock’s decline was more pronounced than the broader market, suggesting investors are locking in gains or reassessing its valuation rather than responding to a major deterioration in fundamentals. Morgan Stanley Sees a More Significant Dip Than Broader Market

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MS. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Bank of America increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.75.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on MS

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of MS opened at $212.73 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $151.84 and a fifty-two week high of $232.25. The company’s fifty day moving average is $216.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $198.02. The firm has a market cap of $335.53 billion, a PE ratio of 17.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 15.65%.The business had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 37.19%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Morgan Stanley

(Free Report)

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. The company serves corporations, governments, financial institutions, individuals and institutional investors through a range of advisory, capital-raising, trading and investment-related activities.

Morgan Stanley’s Institutional Securities business offers investment banking services, including mergers and acquisitions advice, underwriting and capital markets services.