Northern Trust Corp Grows Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

18 Aug 2025, 15:46 by Tristan Rich · The Markets Daily

Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,807,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 403,956 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 0.86% of Morgan Stanley worth $1,610,881,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Omnia Family Wealth LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the first quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 18,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,144,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 50.0% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Vivaldi Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 5,096 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. This trade represents a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total value of $6,141,499.02. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,480,422.50. This represents a 12.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MS. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. 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 assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.25.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 2.7%

NYSE MS opened at $144.55 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.09 and a one year high of $149.08. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $139.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $128.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $230.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.37, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.32.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion during 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. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

About Morgan Stanley

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