Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 6,277 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

25 Jan 2026, 13:11 by Mitch Edgeman · The Markets Daily

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 810,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,277 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $128,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 97.4% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 22,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,644,000 after purchasing an additional 11,311 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 581,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,407,000 after buying an additional 21,458 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 87,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,867,000 after buying an additional 9,345 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 45.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 30,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,905,000 after buying an additional 9,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 8.2% in the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 6,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $179.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $161.18. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $192.68. The firm has a market cap of $284.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.92% and a net margin of 14.09%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.22 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.18%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $3,966,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 171,005 shares in the company, valued at $31,464,920. This represents a 11.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 15,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.77, for a total transaction of $2,942,225.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 135,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,135,424.08. The trade was a 10.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 196,223 shares of company stock worth $34,150,220. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley was named one of the lead banks on the highly visible SpaceX IPO, which should generate sizable investment‑banking fees and boost confidence in MS’s deal pipeline. Elon Musk’s SpaceX lines up 4 banks for blockbuster IPO
Positive Sentiment: Q4 fundamentals remain supportive — MS recently beat on EPS and revenue, announced a $1.00 quarterly dividend (ex‑div Jan 30), and has strong ROE metrics cited by analysts; those fundamentals underpin longer‑term investor support. Morgan Stanley stock page / Q4 results & dividend
Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Wealth Management staff publicly urged clients not to panic‑sell, messaging designed to stabilize flows and sentiment among retail/wealth clients. That communication can help limit outflows and calm short‑term volatility. ‘Don’t Get Off the Rodeo Bull’: Morgan Stanley Warns Investors Not to Panic Sell
Neutral Sentiment: Research action from MS — the firm cut Oracle’s target ~30% citing AI infra concerns. This is a research call on a large tech name (shows MS positioning/opinion) but is not a direct company fundamental change for MS itself. Oracle target cut by Morgan Stanley
Negative Sentiment: Multiple senior Morgan Stanley insiders filed Form 4s this week (large sales by executives including Michael Pizzi, Andrew Saperstein, Eric Grossman, Sharon Yeshaya and others). Concentrated insider selling can add short‑term supply and raise investor caution. Insider sale SEC filing (example)

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $202.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $211.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.93.

Read Our Latest Research Report on MS

Morgan Stanley 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.