Research Analysts’ Weekly Ratings Changes for Morgan Stanley (MS)

Several brokerages have updated their recommendations and price targets on shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) in the last few weeks:

• 5/8/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by Citigroup Inc. from $170.00 to $194.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 5/7/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by Dbs Bank from $185.00 to $220.00.
• 5/6/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by UBS Group AG from $196.00 to $214.00.
• 5/5/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by Daiwa Securities Group Inc. from $175.00 to $198.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 4/28/2026 – Morgan Stanley was upgraded by Zacks Research from “hold” to “strong-buy”.
• 4/27/2026 – Morgan Stanley was upgraded by Erste Group Bank AG from “hold” to “buy”.
• 4/24/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by BNP Paribas Exane from $195.00 to $205.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 4/20/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by BMO Capital Markets from $190.00 to $220.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 4/17/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by Rothschild & Co Redburn from $171.00 to $183.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 4/17/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by HSBC Holdings plc from $153.00 to $177.00. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock.
• 4/16/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $189.00 to $200.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 4/16/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. from $186.00 to $205.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 4/16/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by Barclays PLC from $219.00 to $230.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 4/16/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its “sector perform” rating reaffirmed by Royal Bank Of Canada. They now have a $207.00 price target on the stock.
• 4/16/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by Evercore Inc from $190.00 to $210.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 4/16/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by Argus from $210.00 to $225.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 4/16/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its “market perform” rating reaffirmed by Citizens Jmp.
• 4/16/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $210.00 to $218.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 4/16/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by Bank of America Corporation from $220.00 to $225.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 4/7/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target lowered by Daiwa Securities Group Inc. from $187.00 to $175.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 4/7/2026 – Morgan Stanley was upgraded by UBS Group AG from “neutral” to “buy”. They now have a $196.00 price target on the stock, up from $195.00.
• 4/6/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. from $172.00 to $186.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 4/6/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target lowered by BMO Capital Markets from $215.00 to $190.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 4/6/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target lowered by Evercore Inc from $215.00 to $190.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 4/1/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target lowered by HSBC Holdings plc from $175.00 to $153.00. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock.
• 4/1/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target lowered by Rothschild & Co Redburn from $175.00 to $171.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 4/1/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target lowered by Wolfe Research from $221.00 to $197.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 3/23/2026 – Morgan Stanley was downgraded by Zacks Research from “strong-buy” to “hold”.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the sale, the insider owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.