Morgan Stanley $MS Stock Holdings Reduced by Axecap Investments LLC

Posted by George Bondi on Oct 21st, 2026

Axecap Investments LLC reduced its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) by 67.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,157 shares during the quarter. Axecap Investments LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $78,825,883,310. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,326,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,686,881,000 after purchasing an additional 87,533 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.7% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,206,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,342,532,000 after purchasing an additional 188,296 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,040,227,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,235,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,190,585,000 after buying an additional 65,739 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley chief U.S. equity strategist Mike Wilson said the market correction is likely in its “final innings” and projected the S&P 500 could reach 8,500 by mid-2027. The comments support risk appetite and may benefit Morgan Stanley through stronger equity-market activity, investment banking and wealth-management sentiment. Morgan Stanley strategist Mike Wilson market outlook
Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley was identified as one of the more oversold financial stocks that could offer recovery potential in the fourth quarter. That framing may be encouraging bargain-oriented investors, particularly after the company’s earlier earnings beat and revenue growth. Financial stocks with recovery potential
Neutral Sentiment: Recent coverage describes analyst opinions on Morgan Stanley as mixed, suggesting investors are balancing attractive valuation and growth prospects with concerns about market sensitivity and financial-sector conditions. Analyst opinions on Morgan Stanley
Negative Sentiment: BMO Capital Markets lowered its Morgan Stanley price target from $215 to $210, although it maintained an “Outperform” rating. The reduction limits some of the near-term upside implied by prior expectations, but the continued positive rating remains supportive. BMO lowers Morgan Stanley price target
Negative Sentiment: A Seeking Alpha analysis argued that Morgan Stanley’s Series A preferred shares offer an insufficient yield for a compelling allocation. This is more directly relevant to the preferred security than to common shares, but it could weigh modestly on sentiment toward the company’s capital-markets securities. Morgan Stanley Series A preferred shares analysis

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $180.24 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $152.80 and a 12 month high of $232.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $284.29 billion, a PE ratio of 14.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $202.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $204.00.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $20.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.93 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 15.63%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.51%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Share repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 price target (down from $250.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, July 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.62.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley Profile

(Free Report)

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, institutions, governments and individual investors. Founded in 1935, the company is headquartered in New York City and serves clients through operations across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other international markets.

Through its Institutional Securities segment, Morgan Stanley offers investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading, research, lending and related capital-markets services.