Brokerages Set Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target at $224.50

Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-six analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $224.50.

MS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $214.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $2,736,648,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $2,648,354,000 after purchasing an additional 3,364,080 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 142.4% in 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 buying an additional 1,833,844 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in 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 buying an additional 1,361,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2,332.9% in 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 buying an additional 1,348,683 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley launched the MSSE Ethereum Trust and MSOL Solana Trust on NYSE Arca. Both products charge a 0.14% expense ratio and intend to stake assets, passing staking rewards to investors. The products expand Morgan Stanley’s digital-asset platform beyond its bitcoin offering and could generate new fee revenue. Morgan Stanley expands crypto lineup with Ether, Solana ETPs
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage highlighted Morgan Stanley’s strong position in the investment-banking and trading boom. The firm advised on 15 construction-related transactions worth $81.3 billion in the first half of 2026, reinforcing its competitive position in mergers and acquisitions. Morgan Stanley leads construction M&A advisory in H1 2026
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley strategists remain constructive on artificial-intelligence investment, arguing that major technology companies’ substantial AI spending could ultimately produce strong returns and improve profit margins. This supports continued advisory, financing and trading opportunities for MS, although the view primarily benefits its corporate clients. Morgan Stanley says AI investment could generate strong returns
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is among the anchor investors in Manipal Health Enterprises’ planned Indian IPO, which raised Rs 4,167 crore from anchor investors. The deal may provide advisory, underwriting or distribution revenue, but its near-term financial impact on MS was not disclosed. Manipal Health IPO anchor investment
• Negative Sentiment: The positive company-specific news has not offset likely profit-taking and broader risk reduction across financial and technology stocks. Morgan Stanley’s shares remain near their 52-week high, leaving valuation and market-sentiment concerns as potential reasons investors are selling despite the firm’s strong prior earnings and expanding fee opportunities.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $211.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $214.81 and a 200-day moving average of $190.37. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $136.17 and a 52 week high of $232.25. The company has a market capitalization of $334.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.12, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. The firm had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.51%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.34%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.