Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) shares reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $203.92 and last traded at $203.61, with a volume of 283691 shares. The stock had previously closed at $201.03.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s earlier Q1 2026 results were strong, with EPS and revenue both beating estimates and revenue up 16% year over year, reinforcing the market’s view that the bank is executing well in investment banking and trading.
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage from Zacks emphasized that Morgan Stanley has outperformed the S&P 500 and the broader financials group year to date, which can help keep sentiment constructive around the stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s analysts were active across multiple names, including maintaining or adjusting ratings on LTIMindtree, Vistra, Mid-America Apartment Communities, Franklin Resources, Edison International, Southern Company, and Take-Two Interactive; these items reflect the firm’s research activity more than a direct catalyst for MS. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Andrew Slimmon, a Morgan Stanley portfolio manager, said he does not see signs of a dot-com bubble, a view that may support broader risk appetite but is not a direct earnings catalyst for MS.
• Negative Sentiment: No major negative Morgan Stanley-specific news was included in the last 24–36 hours, so there is little evidence in these articles of a fresh fundamental headwind for the shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MS. Dbs Bank boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Wolfe Research reduced their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.95.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $180.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $316.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.22.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 36.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MS. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 69.0% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 8,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,263,000 after purchasing an additional 3,661 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 90.9% during the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,378,000 after purchasing an additional 7,688 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.3% during 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 worth $37,127,000 after purchasing an additional 15,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 worth $7,805,000 after purchasing an additional 3,807 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

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.