Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Reaches New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

18 Sep 2025, 12:34 by Jessica Moore · The Cerbat Gem

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $145.00 to $165.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley traded as high as $158.48 and last traded at $156.60, with a volume of 4829891 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $156.39.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $139.92.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on MS

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,480,422.50. This trade represents a 12.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MS. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 111.0% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 645.8% during the 2nd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $146.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $131.02. The stock has a market cap of $251.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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