Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Price Expected to Rise, CICC Research Analyst Says

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its target price upped by analysts at CICC Research from $175.00 to $200.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. CICC Research’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 4.49% from the stock’s previous close.

MS has been the topic of several other reports. Daiwa Securities Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Evercore boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Bank of America raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $207.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.95.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock traded down $1.28 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $191.41. The company had a trading volume of 338,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,794,800. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The firm has a market cap of $301.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.30, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50 day moving average of $176.15 and a 200-day moving average of $175.16. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $123.88 and a 52 week high of $197.50.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 over the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,736,648,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position 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 worth $2,648,354,000 after acquiring an additional 3,364,080 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $511,723,000 after purchasing an additional 1,833,844 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 valued at $21,253,554,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised 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 valued at $249,710,000 after purchasing an additional 1,348,683 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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.