Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Upgraded by UBS Group to Buy Rating

UBS Group upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $196.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $195.00.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on MS. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Wolfe Research lowered their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $189.94.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $168.02 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $97.89 and a one year high of $192.68. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $168.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $266.80 billion, a PE ratio of 16.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.19.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.40. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.22 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.18%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.55, for a total transaction of $3,691,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 127,872 shares in the company, valued at $23,598,777.60. This represents a 13.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total transaction of $5,569,194.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 280,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,501,921.22. The trade was a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,736,648,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,917,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,648,354,000 after purchasing an additional 3,364,080 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 142.4% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,122,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $511,723,000 after buying an additional 1,833,844 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,253,554,000 after buying an additional 1,361,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 2,332.9% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,406,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,710,000 after buying an additional 1,348,683 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: UBS upgraded Morgan Stanley to a Buy and set a $196 price target, highlighting wealth‑management strength and positioning the stock for upside versus peers. Time to buy shares of Morgan Stanley, says UBS
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley will debut its spot Bitcoin ETF (ticker MSBT) on NYSE Arca tomorrow; the fund holds physical BTC, tracks the CoinDesk 4PM NY rate, and charges a low 0.14% sponsor fee — a potential new revenue and flow source if ETF inflows materialize. MSBT: Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin ETF Ready for Launch Tomorrow
• Positive Sentiment: Firm is launching a private‑credit fund to capture dislocations in private credit markets — an asset-management growth lever if fundraising succeeds and APR spreads remain attractive. Morgan Stanley Capitalizes On Private Credit Dislocation With New Fund
• Neutral Sentiment: Jefferies expects US banks — including MS — to deliver solid Q1 results driven by trading activity; this is supportive but market‑sensitive ahead of earnings. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley seen riding trading boom as dealmaking holds firm, Jefferies says
• Neutral Sentiment: Corporate calendar items: MS set to report/host key events (earnings focus and direct‑lending updates) — catalysts that can swing intraday volatility but don’t change the medium‑term thesis. Dear Morgan Stanley Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for April 15 Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Sets Q1 2026 Results Call
• Negative Sentiment: Several sell‑side shops trimmed price targets (Evercore/BMO cut targets; Daiwa lowered its PT to $175) — these revisions cap near‑term upside and reflect differing views on valuation and bank cyclicality. Evercore adjusts price target on Morgan Stanley Daiwa Securities adjusts price target on Morgan Stanley to 175
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage flags execution risk in newer initiatives (private‑credit fundraising while investor flows soften) — a potential headwind if markets stress and fundraising slows. Morgan Stanley plans private credit fund even as investors flee

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.