2,902 Shares in Morgan Stanley $MS Purchased by USA Financial Formulas

18 Oct 2026, 05:31 by Amy Steele · The Cerbat Gem

USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 2,902 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $546,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 143.4% during the second quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Atlatl Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 55.7% during the second quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC now owns 137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Bayban grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 72.5% during the first quarter. Bayban now owns 188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

Positive Sentiment: Record wealth-management results, including approximately $9.1 billion in revenue, strong net new assets and $10.5 trillion in wealth assets, reinforced Morgan Stanley’s long-term growth strategy. Morgan Stanley Q3 profit hits $4.9bn on wealth gains and IPO inflows
Positive Sentiment: Equities trading revenue surged 41% year over year, helping drive the earnings and revenue outperformance. Management also highlighted opportunities from AI financing and disciplined capital allocation. Morgan Stanley Q3 Earnings Call Highlights Wealth and AI Strategy
Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley declared a quarterly dividend of $1.15 per share, equivalent to $4.60 annually and a stated yield of about 2.5%, providing ongoing shareholder support.
Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains mixed: JPMorgan raised its target to $198 while maintaining a Neutral rating, but Citigroup, TD Cowen and KBW lowered their targets to $190, $205 and $230, respectively. Morgan Stanley Analysts Cut Their Forecasts After Q3 Results
Negative Sentiment: Investors appeared concerned that growth was concentrated in equities and trading, while profitability metrics and the business mix were less compelling. The strong beat therefore did not translate into higher valuation expectations. Morgan Stanley Beats on Earnings, But Shares Fall on Trading Mix

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.8%

MS opened at $180.73 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $285.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $204.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $203.48.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.10. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.40% and a net margin of 15.63%. The firm had revenue of $20.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that authorizes the company to buy back $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 target price (down from $250.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $223.00 to $217.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $205.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $214.86.

Read 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.