Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Has $2.01 Million Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 26.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,105 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,311 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,010,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,102,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 8.1% during the third quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. LeConte Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.7% during the third quarter. LeConte Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.3% in the second quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 3,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.7% in the third quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 3.7%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $182.03 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $289.29 billion, a PE ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $176.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $160.48. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.33 and a 52-week high of $192.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MS. Citigroup increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $211.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.93.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s public profile remains strong — Jim Cramer praised MS’s CEO and recent commentary highlights the firm’s momentum and leadership, which supports confidence in management and long-term strategy. Morgan Stanley (MS)’s CEO is Doing a Great Job, Says Jim Cramer
• Positive Sentiment: MS is active in principal/private investments — the firm backed Tenaya Therapeutics, a move that highlights deal flow and potential upside from private / VC-style investments on the firm’s balance sheet. That can boost future revenue diversity. Morgan Stanley Backs Tenaya Therapeutics (TNYA) as SMID-Cap Biotech Primed to Outperform in 2026
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s real‑asset investing arm bought a $110M Bay Area factory — expands its industrial/real‑asset portfolio but is not an immediate earnings driver for the bank’s core wealth & capital markets businesses. Morgan Stanley Snaps Up $110 Million Bay Area Factory
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst activity and coverage moves from Morgan Stanley (upgrades, initiations across tech, biotech and space names) underline the firm’s research footprint — supportive for IB and trading franchise over time but not an immediate capital markets catalyst. Morgan Stanley’s Top European Software and Services Stocks
• Negative Sentiment: Research tone turned cautious on parts of tech: Morgan Stanley flagged slowing demand in U.S. IT hardware, a move that contributed to selling in hardware names — this raises investor concern that institutional client spending and trading/underwriting activity could soften, which would pressure MS revenue. US IT hardware stocks tumble as Morgan Stanley flags slowing demand
• Negative Sentiment: Broader tech weakness and ETF drag (QQQ down amid major tech declines) is reducing trading and market‑sensitive revenue across banks; MS is sensitive to market volatility and flows, so sector weakness can depress the stock even if fundamentals remain solid. QQQ is down 1.3% today, on SHOP stock price movement

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.