Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Sets New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) reached a new 52-week high on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $177.00 to $189.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley traded as high as $187.90 and last traded at $187.75, with a volume of 1256644 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $181.90.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on MS. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Dbs Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $184.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at $94,493,199.24. This represents a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analysts and screens are bullish on MS — a recent article reports a raised price target for Morgan Stanley and elsewhere MS appears on lists of top-ranked stocks expected to beat earnings, reinforcing optimism about near-term EPS beats and valuation upside. Morgan Stanley (MS) Price Target Raised by $18: A Comprehensive Analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks includes Morgan Stanley among five top-ranked names likely to beat upcoming earnings, which can attract buyer interest ahead of results. Looking for Earnings Beat? Buy These 5 Top-Ranked Stocks
• Positive Sentiment: Industry recognition and analyst sentiment remain constructive — a survey-style note shows MS with an average analyst rating around “Moderate Buy,” supporting demand for the shares. Morgan Stanley Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts
• Positive Sentiment: Macro/wealth-management tailwind: large banks (JPM, Citi and MS peers) are increasingly recommending spot Bitcoin allocations; broader acceptance of crypto allocations by major wealth channels supports fee opportunities for MS’s wealth and private bank businesses. Bank of America Joins JPMorgan, Citi, Morgan Stanley By Recommending Bitcoin Portfolio Allocation
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s research desk is producing market-moving thematic work (e.g., bullish US market outlook for 2026 and regional energy studies). Those publications boost MS’s revenue mix via research/flows but have indirect and variable effects on firm earnings. US to Drive Stocks in 2026 With 10%-Plus Gain: Morgan Stanley
• Neutral Sentiment: Research note: Morgan Stanley flagged that Venezuela crude could meaningfully increase heavy crude flows — important for energy-sector pricing and clients, but only indirectly relevant to MS’s own fundamentals. American bank forecasts Venezuela crude exports will double
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage and analyst activity on third-party names (Auna, ADM, BorgWarner, etc.) underscore MS’s revenue from investment banking and research but are company-agnostic signals rather than direct drivers of MS stock. Morgan Stanley Sees Growth Potential in Auna SA (AUNA)

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,123,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,779,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354,142 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,321,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,343,523,000 after buying an additional 167,487 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,494,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,893,590,000 after buying an additional 448,960 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $2,234,883,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 14,260,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,267,847,000 after buying an additional 822,120 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 3.5%

The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The company has a market capitalization of $299.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.27, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $170.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.50.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. The business had revenue of $17.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.40% and a net margin of 13.85%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.03%.

About Morgan Stanley

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.