Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target Raised to $250.00

16 Jul 2026, 14:52 by Danessa Lincoln · The Markets Daily

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by equities researchers at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $225.00 to $250.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 9.40% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on MS. Jefferies Financial Group raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Zacks Research cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Daiwa Securities Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.80.

Read Our Latest Report on Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.4%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $228.52 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $135.26 and a fifty-two week high of $232.25. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $210.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $188.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $360.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. The company had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly 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 through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MS. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 69.0% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 8,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,263,000 after acquiring an additional 3,661 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 90.9% in the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,378,000 after acquiring an additional 7,688 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 263,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,127,000 after acquiring an additional 15,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC now owns 52,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,805,000 after purchasing an additional 3,807 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley posted record quarterly revenue and profit, beating analyst estimates on both the top and bottom lines, which supports the stock. Morgan Stanley Reports Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Results
Positive Sentiment: Trading and investment banking were key upside drivers, showing that market volatility and dealmaking activity are still benefiting Morgan Stanley’s core businesses. Morgan Stanley profit rises on dealmaking boost, strong trading
Positive Sentiment: The company raised its quarterly dividend by 15%, reinforcing confidence in capital generation and shareholder returns. Morgan Stanley stock page
Neutral Sentiment: Several media reports and analyst notes highlighted Morgan Stanley ahead of earnings, but the main stock driver today is the actual earnings beat rather than the pre-earnings commentary. Morgan Stanley is set to report second-quarter earnings — here’s what the Street expects

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.