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

Posted by Stanley Muller on Jul 14th, 2026

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $232.10 and last traded at $230.5410, with a volume of 1572886 shares. The stock had previously closed at $221.09.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect Morgan Stanley to benefit from stronger trading activity, higher IB fees, and better net interest income in Q2.
Positive Sentiment: Broader bank-earnings coverage suggests major banks, including Morgan Stanley, may beat estimates thanks to capital markets strength and resilient client activity.
Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also watching Morgan Stanley’s earnings release closely, with the stock trading near its 52-week high ahead of the report.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MS. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Dbs Bank boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.20.

Get Our Latest Research Report on MS

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 3.0%

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $209.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $187.61. The stock has a market cap of $359.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value 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 trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 over the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 143.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lodestone Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

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.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.