Howland Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) by 16.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,059 shares during the period. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,876,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Crown Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.2% during the second quarter. Crown Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 55.7% in the second quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC now owns 137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 35.7% in the second quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the second quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 8,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,724,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Bank OZK raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.0% during the second quarter. Bank OZK now owns 1,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.
Morgan Stanley Stock Performance
MS opened at $183.77 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $152.80 and a 52-week high of $232.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $289.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.58, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $201.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $204.27.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.10. The firm 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%. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 12.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.51%.
Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley
Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley, alongside Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, reportedly captured nearly 80% of the top five banks’ equity-trading revenue this year, generating a combined $52 billion. The surge was driven by heavy hedge-fund borrowing and leveraged activity tied to artificial intelligence hardware and semiconductor stocks, highlighting strong market-sensitive revenue potential for MS. Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are dominating the AI stock boom
- Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Wealth Management received the 2026 Money Management Institute/Barron’s Wealth Management Advisory Platform of the Year award. The recognition reinforces the firm’s competitive position in advisory services and supports the longer-term growth case for its fee-based wealth-management business. Morgan Stanley Named 2026 Money Management Institute/Barron’s Wealth Management Advisory Platform of the Year
- Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage continues to focus on whether Morgan Stanley’s wealth-management operations can help stabilize performance. That business provides recurring fees and diversification from more cyclical investment-banking and trading results. Can Wealth Management Keep Morgan Stanley Steady?
- Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley named Howmet Aerospace its top aerospace pick for the third quarter, replacing FTAI Aviation. The report reflects the firm’s research and advisory activity rather than a direct change to Morgan Stanley’s earnings outlook, so the effect on MS is limited. Morgan Stanley Names Top Aerospace Pick to Replace FTAI
- Negative Sentiment: Coverage questioning whether Morgan Stanley can sustain its valuation may be contributing to profit-taking after the recent run-up. At approximately 14.6 times earnings, the stock remains exposed to concerns about slowing growth or weaker capital-markets activity. Can Morgan Stanley Sustain Its Valuation?
- Negative Sentiment: Reported ETF net selling of Morgan Stanley shares on October 19 represents a near-term technical headwind, potentially adding to downside pressure even without a new fundamental deterioration. ETFs Are Net Sellers of Morgan Stanley
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research firms have recently weighed in on MS. Erste Group Bank cut Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Citigroup lowered their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Oppenheimer lowered Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Morgan Stanley from $260.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 5th. 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 given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.62.
Read Our Latest Report on Morgan Stanley
About Morgan Stanley
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.
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