Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Purchased by Arizona State Retirement System

Posted by Brenda Bartman on Sep 8th, 2026

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) by 1.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 328,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,528 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $68,735,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.6%

Morgan Stanley stock traded down $1.41 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $216.31. The stock had a trading volume of 3,454,304 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,229,787. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $215.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $197.19. The stock has a market cap of $341.18 billion, a PE ratio of 17.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.21. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $148.35 and a 52-week high of $232.25.

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

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.19%.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is reportedly among the leading candidates for a senior role on a potential Anthropic initial public offering. A transaction of that scale could generate meaningful advisory and underwriting fees, although the IPO remains prospective. Morgan Stanley, Goldman near top roles on Anthropic’s $2tn IPO
Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s research team continues to highlight opportunities in artificial-intelligence adopters and selected Indian equities, signaling potentially favorable conditions for its equity-research, sales and trading, and investment-banking franchises. Morgan Stanley market leaders outlook
Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is hosting or participating in several upcoming corporate and healthcare conferences. These events may create opportunities for client engagement and deal flow, but the announcements do not immediately change the firm’s earnings outlook.
Negative Sentiment: Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch recruited a Morgan Stanley advisor team overseeing approximately $1.2 billion, alongside advisors from Truist and Wells Fargo. The departure could pressure Morgan Stanley’s wealth-management assets, revenue, and retention metrics, although the direct earnings impact is uncertain. Merrill Lynch poaches Morgan Stanley team
Negative Sentiment: Analysts warn that capital-markets momentum is fading in the third quarter, raising the risk of uneven results for large banks including Morgan Stanley. Slower deal activity, trading volumes, or issuance could weigh on near-term investment-banking and markets revenue. Capital markets momentum fades

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Freedom Capital raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $243.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $255.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.75.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on Morgan Stanley

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.