Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target Raised to $218.00

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its price objective lifted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $210.00 to $218.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

MS has been the topic of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore decreased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $215.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research decreased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Ten 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, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $199.67.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of MS opened at $188.95 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $104.78 and a one year high of $194.59. The company has a market cap of $298.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.76.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.89%. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 36.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $23,598,777.60. The trade was a 13.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 8,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 119,128 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,690,826.24. This represents a 6.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 195,549 shares of company stock valued at $36,260,510 over the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $2,736,648,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 29.1% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 3,364,080 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 142.4% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,122,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $511,723,000 after acquiring an additional 1,833,844 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,253,554,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2,332.9% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,406,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,710,000 after acquiring an additional 1,348,683 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat expectations: revenue and EPS surprised on the upside, driven by strong trading and investment‑banking performance and continued wealth‑management flows — the core earnings beat is the primary driver of investor optimism. MS Q1 Deep Dive: Wealth and Investment Banking Deliver
• Positive Sentiment: MSBT (Morgan Stanley’s spot Bitcoin ETF) has drawn >$100M in its first week — a fast start that supports asset‑gathering momentum and fee diversification at the firm. Morgan Stanley Bitcoin ETF Tops $100 Million in Six Days
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street is increasing MS valuation assumptions: several firms raised price targets and upgraded outlooks after Q1 (Bank of America, Evercore, Argus, Keefe Bruyette & Woods among them), which supports further upside narratives. Morgan Stanley Price Target Raised to $225.00 at Bank of America
• Neutral Sentiment: Dividend and capital return: Morgan Stanley announced a $1.00 quarterly dividend (ex‑dividend Apr 30), signaling confidence in cash generation and returning capital to shareholders (income‑supporting but not an earnings catalyst).
• Neutral Sentiment: Ongoing investment banking / underwriting activity (including large debt syndications) highlights the firm’s franchise utility in markets — positive for fee pipelines but cyclically sensitive to capital‑markets activity.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory / reputational overhang: Senator Elizabeth Warren requested Fed records tied to a Fed nominee’s past actions that reference Morgan Stanley; while not an immediate earnings issue, it increases political/regulatory headline risk. Elizabeth Warren Challenges Fed Chair Nominee Kevin Warsh
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts still express caution: a few firms kept conservative ratings or raised PTs while maintaining neutral/hold views (e.g., HSBC/Rothschild adjustments), which can cap near‑term upside and prompt mixed trading. HSBC Adjusts Price Target on Morgan Stanley

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.