Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Daiwa Securities Group Analyst Says

Posted by George Bondi on May 5th, 2026

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by investment analysts at Daiwa Securities Group from $175.00 to $198.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Daiwa Securities Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 4.53% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. HSBC increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.17.

Read Our Latest Research Report on MS

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock traded up $1.42 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $189.43. 341,899 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,980,249. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $117.21 and a fifty-two week high of $194.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $171.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $172.99. The company has a market cap of $299.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 17.89%. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,209,159.78. This trade represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,736,648,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 29.1% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,917,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,648,354,000 after purchasing an additional 3,364,080 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 142.4% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,122,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $511,723,000 after purchasing an additional 1,833,844 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,253,554,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2,332.9% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,406,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,710,000 after purchasing an additional 1,348,683 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

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

Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley named a lead financier on Meta’s large El Paso data-center financing — a ~\$13 billion mandate that should generate meaningful investment‑banking fees and reaffirms MS’s role on big tech financings. Article
Positive Sentiment: ADX named Morgan Stanley its first international Remote Trading Member, expanding MS’s ability to route client flows into Abu Dhabi markets — a potential source of trading and prime-brokerage revenue growth. Article
Positive Sentiment: MS’s Bitcoin ETP (MSBT) posted positive inflows recently, showing growing traction in its crypto product lineup and adding asset-management/fee diversification. Article
Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Investment Management launched a Wealth Education Center for advisors — a product/engagement initiative that can help retain advisor clients and support long‑term AUM growth. Article
Neutral Sentiment: Firm research and public commentary (e.g., Morgan Stanley views on why stocks are rallying) continue to influence market narrative and institutional client engagement, but are less likely to move MS shares immediately. Article
Neutral Sentiment: Broader analyst activity and sector notes (Morgan Stanley research lifting targets in semiconductors, other analyst calls) highlight the firm’s research franchise but are indirect for MS stock performance. Article
Negative Sentiment: U.S. regulators have opened a preliminary probe into Morgan Stanley’s investment‑banking program in Budapest — a material reputational and legal risk that can weigh on the stock while details and scope remain unclear. This appears to be the primary driver of today’s weakness. Article
Negative Sentiment: Financial‑sector weakness and risk‑off moves across banks/financials are pressuring peers and may amplify MS’s pullback even where news is idiosyncratic. Article

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.