Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target Raised to $200.00

Key Points

• CICC Research raised Morgan Stanley’s price target from $175 to $200 and kept an outperform rating, implying about 4.5% upside from the prior close.
• Other analysts have also been lifting targets, and the stock now carries a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $205.95.
• Morgan Stanley recently beat earnings expectations, reporting $3.43 EPS on $20.58 billion in revenue, while the stock traded down 0.7% to $191.41 on Tuesday.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by analysts at CICC Research from $175.00 to $200.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the financial services provider's stock. CICC Research's target price suggests a potential upside of 4.49% from the company's previous close.

MS has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $173.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Dbs Bank raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.95.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE:MS traded down $1.28 on Tuesday, hitting $191.41. 338,752 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,794,800. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The company has a market cap of $301.91 billion, a PE ratio of 17.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $176.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.16. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $123.88 and a 1 year high of $197.50.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the transaction, the insider owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MS. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $2,736,648,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 29.1% during 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 period. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 142.4% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,122,060 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $511,723,000 after buying an additional 1,833,844 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $21,253,554,000 after buying an additional 1,361,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 2,332.9% in 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 period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley strategists warned that equities could be vulnerable to a significant correction if the global bond rout worsens, citing heightened macro risk around the AI-led rally. Morgan Stanley’s Wilson Warns Stock Rally at Risk From Bond Rout
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reiterated a bullish stance on equities, pointing to AI growth and labor-market resilience as offsetting forces, which supports the view that the firm still sees upside in risk assets over time. Morgan Stanley Remains Bullish on Equities While Flagging Recession Risks Ahead
• Neutral Sentiment: The broader market is also focused on Morgan Stanley commentary around Nvidia and AI-related capex, reinforcing that MS is closely tied to investor debate over whether AI spending can keep powering markets.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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.

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