Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the nineteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $187.1429.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Evercore lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $165.63 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39. The business has a 50-day moving average of $172.27 and a 200-day moving average of $168.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $263.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.22, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.20. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $192.68.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The business had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.61, for a total transaction of $6,020,286.48. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 357,342 shares in the company, valued at $65,254,222.62. This trade represents a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total transaction of $5,569,194.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 280,481 shares in the company, valued at $51,501,921.22. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Strong reported results and recent beats reinforce MS’s core revenue and trading franchise — record 2025 revenue and a Q4 EPS beat underpin the firm’s fundamentals and fee-generation outlook. MS Beats Market Upswing
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is in position for high‑profile investment‑banking mandates (SpaceX IPO chatter), which could support future IB fees and client pipeline if those deals proceed. SpaceX IPO Prediction Markets
• Positive Sentiment: Ongoing expansion into digital assets and tokenization (ETF filings, platform hires) supports new revenue lines — a strategic growth angle investors may value over the medium term. Morgan Stanley on Crypto Move
• Neutral Sentiment: Firm research is feeding market flow — Morgan Stanley’s AlphaWise smartphone data (positive for AAPL) and other thematic notes keep MS visible as a go‑to research house, which is revenue‑supportive but not an immediate stock catalyst. AlphaWise iPhone Survey
• Neutral Sentiment: Thought leadership/webinars (AI + software, AlphaSense partnership) help reputation and institutional engagement; useful for longer‑term positioning but not a direct short‑term earnings driver. AI vs Software Webinar
• Neutral Sentiment: Routine analyst activity — MS naming Intuit a top pick and other coverage moves show normal sell‑side reweighting that can influence sector flow but is company‑agnostic for MS’s own share price. Intuit Top Pick
• Negative Sentiment: Third‑party downgrade: Zacks lowered MS from “strong‑buy” to “hold” this morning — analyst tone and any rating drift can remove marginal buyers and pressure the stock. Zacks Downgrade/TickerReport
• Negative Sentiment: Sentiment disconnect: coverage noted that record earnings did not prevent a sharp pullback in shares (retail/social sentiment and short‑term positioning weighed), showing earnings beats alone aren’t calming speculative outflows. Record Earnings but Shares Fell
• Negative Sentiment: Macro risk: Morgan Stanley warned about a hawkish Fed outlook and higher‑for‑longer rate risk — a backdrop that can hurt risk appetite, raise funding costs and add volatility to MS trading and wealth‑management flows. MS Fed Rate Warning

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.