Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Posted by Geri Gentry on Jul 16th, 2026

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

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

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

Positive Sentiment: Equities trading and investment banking both came in strong, helping drive the earnings beat and record profit.
Positive Sentiment: Wealth management and investment management also posted solid growth, reinforcing the quality of the quarter and the durability of the franchise.
Positive Sentiment: The company raised its quarterly dividend by 15%, which signals management confidence in future cash generation.
Positive Sentiment: Client assets topped $10 trillion, a sign that Morgan Stanley’s wealth platform continues to scale.
Neutral Sentiment: Broader market sentiment is also helping financial stocks, with cooler inflation data supporting hopes for a friendlier rate backdrop.
Neutral Sentiment: Several analysts have reiterated constructive views on MS and peers after strong banking-sector earnings.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on MS. Argus boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Dbs Bank increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.20.

View Our Latest Analysis on Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $210.69 and a 200 day moving average of $188.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $360.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57. The firm had revenue of $21.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total value of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MS. Marquette Asset Management LLC increased 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 valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Community Financial Services Group LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 297.4% in the second quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

About Morgan Stanley

(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.