Korea Investment CORP Raises Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

18 Aug 2025, 12:20 by Scott Moore · The Cerbat Gem

Korea Investment CORP increased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) by 9.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,047,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 89,607 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.07% of Morgan Stanley worth $122,158,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at $30,000. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 104.7% during the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% in the first quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $144.55 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.09 and a 12 month high of $149.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $139.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $128.68. The firm has a market cap of $230.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.25.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on MS

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total transaction of $1,693,440.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 186,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,307,590.40. This trade represents a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total value of $6,141,499.02. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,480,422.50. The trade was a 12.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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