Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Rating Lowered to "Hold" at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research has downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong‑buy” to a “hold”, and the analysts’ consensus rating is currently Hold with a $187.14 target price.
• The firm beat quarterly expectations with EPS of $2.68 (vs. $2.28 est.) and revenue of $17.90B (+10.3% YoY), while trading at a PE of 16.25 and showing an ROE of 16.78%, reflecting solid recent fundamentals.
• Insiders have sold ~129,191 shares (~$23.7M) in the past 90 days even as institutions own about 84% of the stock; concurrently, capped withdrawals from private‑credit vehicles pose a potential threat to AUM and fee income.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Erste Group Bank reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, HSBC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $187.14.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $165.90 on Monday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $172.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.93. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $192.68. The stock has a market cap of $263.43 billion, a PE ratio of 16.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 14.09%.The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 280,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,501,921.22. This represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 8,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.08, for a total transaction of $1,547,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,361,940 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 103,854,751 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $18,437,334,000 after acquiring an additional 539,544 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,321,214 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,343,523,000 after acquiring an additional 167,487 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,070,557 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,786,350,000 after purchasing an additional 534,708 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,018,335 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,441,505,000 after purchasing an additional 524,189 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strategic crypto expansion — Morgan Stanley has been public about a multi-year buildout of its digital-asset capabilities (internal hires, ETF filings and retail access via E*Trade), which can create new fee streams and retail flows for the firm. Morgan Stanley Says Wall Street’s Crypto Move Took Years
• Positive Sentiment: Asset-management realization / EM private-equity exit — Morgan Stanley Investment Management announced a portfolio exit (Huel acquisition by Danone), illustrating the group’s ability to monetize PE/1GT holdings, which supports fee/incentive income and IM performance. 1GT Portfolio Investment Huel to be Acquired by Danone
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend/steady fundamentals narrative — coverage pieces highlighting Morgan Stanley as an attractive dividend/blue‑chip bank with recent earnings beats support yield-seeking demand and steady investor interest. Why Morgan Stanley (MS) is a Great Dividend Stock Right Now
• Neutral Sentiment: Market/earnings context — broader market coverage notes MS outperformed the market on recent sessions (helpful for sentiment) but this reflects general tape moves as much as firm-specific news. Morgan Stanley (MS) Beats Stock Market Upswing: What Investors Need to Know
• Negative Sentiment: Private-credit liquidity action — reports that Morgan Stanley (and peers) capped withdrawals at certain private-credit vehicles signal industry stress and potential reputational/regulatory scrutiny for managers; that could pressure asset-management AUM and performance fees if flows/valuations deteriorate. Morgan Stanley (MS) and Cliffwater LLC Cap Withdrawals from Multibillion-dollar Private Credit Funds

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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