Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on MS. 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. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $179.02 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $176.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $161.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $284.52 billion, a PE ratio of 17.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $192.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.40. The company 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%.Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 8,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.08, for a total transaction of $1,547,680.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 119,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,690,826.24. This trade represents a 6.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.55, for a total value of $3,691,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 127,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,598,777.60. This trade represents a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 196,223 shares of company stock worth $34,150,220 over the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 97.4% during the 3rd 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. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.8% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 581,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $92,407,000 after buying an additional 21,458 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.0% during the third quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 87,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,867,000 after buying an additional 9,345 shares during the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 45.3% during the third quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 30,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,905,000 after acquiring an additional 9,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 6,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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)

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.