Stock Buyback Plan Announced by Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Board of Directors

Posted by Francis Steltz on Jun 24th, 2026

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 24th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Dbs Bank lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $194.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Evercore increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.90.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 2.6%

MS traded down $5.89 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $220.14. The company had a trading volume of 6,964,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,236,132. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $201.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $183.99. The stock has a market cap of $347.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.94, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $135.26 and a 52 week high of $230.47.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 11.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 36.23%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its quarterly dividend to $1.15 per share from $1.00 and reauthorized a $20 billion multi-year share repurchase program, a shareholder-friendly capital return update. Morgan Stanley Announces a Dividend Increase of 15 Cents to $1.15 Per Share and the Reauthorization of a $20 Billion Multi-Year Common Equity Share Repurchase Program
Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target on Morgan Stanley (MS) to $225 from $200, signaling continued analyst confidence even with an unchanged Equal Weight rating. Morgan Stanley target raised by Wells Fargo
Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Bank, N.A. received its 10th consecutive “Outstanding” Community Reinvestment Act rating from the OCC, a positive reputational update but likely not a major near-term stock driver. Morgan Stanley Bank, N.A. Receives Outstanding Rating for Community Reinvestment Initiatives
Neutral Sentiment: Separately, Morgan Stanley lifted its call on private markets by launching new crypto ETF filings and keeping bullish sector views on names like Coca-Cola and others, but these are more commentary than direct MS earnings drivers. Morgan Stanley Launches 0.14% Ethereum And Solana ETFs With 95% Staking Rewards
Negative Sentiment: Investors are also focused on reports that Morgan Stanley capped withdrawals in its North Haven private credit fund after redemption requests reached about 11.6% of units, reigniting worries about liquidity and private-credit stress. Morgan Stanley caps Q2 withdrawals at North Haven private credit fund
Negative Sentiment: A broader sector selloff in alternative asset managers and private-credit names is also weighing on sentiment, helping explain why MS is slipping despite the dividend and buyback news. Morgan Stanley (MS) Sees a More Significant Dip Than Broader Market: Some Facts to Know

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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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.