Forum Financial Management LP Sells 17,526 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Posted by Brian Himes on Jun 30th, 2026

Forum Financial Management LP lowered its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) by 57.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 17,526 shares during the quarter. Forum Financial Management LP’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MS. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.50.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Morgan Stanley

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

Positive Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets raised its price target on Morgan Stanley to $240 from $220 and kept an Outperform rating, signaling confidence in further upside. MarketScreener article
Positive Sentiment: The company also announced a higher quarterly dividend and a new $20 billion share repurchase authorization, which should appeal to income and capital-return investors. Yahoo Finance article
Positive Sentiment: Investor sentiment around Morgan Stanley has also been helped by broader optimism on IPOs and equity issuance, which could support the firm’s investment banking franchise if deal activity stays strong into 2026. Stocktwits article
Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is being cited in several third-party articles, including commentary on broader market themes and sector stock picks, which adds visibility but does not appear to be a direct earnings catalyst. Yahoo Finance article
Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage also notes that Morgan Stanley continues to make stock calls across utilities, beverage, and other sectors, reinforcing its role as a market-moving analyst but not changing MS fundamentals by itself.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the company’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 directly owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their position. 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 over the last ninety days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of MS opened at $212.16 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $334.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.22, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $135.26 and a twelve month high of $230.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $203.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.79.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.81 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.