Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Lowered to Hold Rating by Evercore ISI

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) was downgraded by equities researchers at Evercore ISI from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $157.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Dbs Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.93.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 2.4%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $175.77 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-year high of $192.68. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $180.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $163.54. The company has a market cap of $279.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.22 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 15,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.77, for a total transaction of $2,942,225.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 135,304 shares in the company, valued at $25,135,424.08. The trade was a 10.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.61, for a total value of $6,020,286.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 357,342 shares in the company, valued at $65,254,222.62. The trade was a 8.45% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506 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 added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1,855.6% in the 4th quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, 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. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley posted a strong Q4 and the firm has gotten buy-side coverage looking at valuation after a rebound in investment banking, supporting fee revenue expectations and the stock’s fundamental story. Valuation Check
• Positive Sentiment: League‑leading deal activity: Morgan Stanley ranked first in power M&A advisory in 2025 — a sign of strong investment banking momentum that should help fee income going forward. M&A Advisory Ranking
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying: a small institutional buy (Linscomb Wealth adding ~2,966 shares) was reported — not material by itself but consistent with some fund-level accumulation. Fund Purchase
• Neutral Sentiment: Corporate/brand events: Morgan Stanley is hosting community and innovation events (Go Red women’s leadership, MS Inclusive & Sustainable Ventures demo day) — positive for reputation and client relationships but unlikely to move near‑term earnings. Go Red Event
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory/portfolio housekeeping: filings show Morgan Stanley changing some external holdings (e.g., ceasing to be a substantial holder in RPMGlobal) — routine institutional repositioning. Holder Update
• Negative Sentiment: Industry policy risk/costs: Reuters reports U.S. banks increased Washington lobbying substantially — more regulatory fights and potential compliance costs could pressure margins and create short‑term uncertainty for large banks including MS. Lobbying & Policy Risks
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market/headline pressure: equity markets are weaker today (SPY down) driven by sharp moves in large constituents (notably a big selloff in LLY and other names). That broad risk‑off environment is pulling MS lower even though company fundamentals look solid; watch macro/tech/healthcare headlines for further pressure. Market Weakness Example

About Morgan Stanley

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.