Research Analysts’ Recent Ratings Updates for Morgan Stanley (MS)

Several analysts have recently updated their ratings and price targets for Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS):

• 1/21/2025 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by analysts at UBS Group AG from $130.00 to $140.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 1/17/2025 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by analysts at Barclays PLC from $155.00 to $156.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 1/17/2025 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by analysts at Evercore ISI from $140.00 to $150.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 1/17/2025 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $138.00 to $145.00. They now have a “market perform” rating on the stock.
• 1/17/2025 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by analysts at Bank of America Co. from $146.00 to $153.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 1/13/2025 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $104.00 to $108.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 1/7/2025 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by analysts at Bank of America Co. from $140.00 to $146.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 1/6/2025 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by analysts at Barclays PLC from $135.00 to $155.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 12/6/2024 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $100.00 to $104.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 12/3/2024 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $121.00 to $138.00. They now have a “market perform” rating on the stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $137.85 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $83.09 and a 52-week high of $139.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $129.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.96. The firm has a market cap of $222.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley, a financial holding company, provides various financial products and services to corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. It operates through Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments.