Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Price Target Cut to $171.00 by Analysts at Rothschild & Co Redburn

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) had its target price dropped by equities research analysts at Rothschild & Co Redburn from $175.00 to $171.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 2.77% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $173.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Wolfe Research lowered their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $195.00 in a report on Friday, January 16th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $183.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $183.13.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $1.82 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $166.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,172,833 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,523,629. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $192.68. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $170.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $264.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20. 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) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.40. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total value of $5,569,194.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 280,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,501,921.22. The trade was a 9.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 21,555 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.00, for a total value of $3,966,120.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 171,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,464,920. This represents a 11.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 129,191 shares of company stock worth $23,736,506. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Planning LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $3,618,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 429,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,279,000 after acquiring an additional 64,401 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 28,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,995,000 after purchasing an additional 7,272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $125,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s E*Trade is in talks to lead SpaceX’s retail IPO allocation, which would give MS first crack at a large retail tranche (reports say SpaceX may reserve up to 30% for retail). That could boost trading fees, retail customer flows and E*Trade’s strategic position versus rivals. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: High‑profile investor support: reports that billionaire Paul Tudor Jones is bullish on Morgan Stanley have likely helped sentiment, reinforcing confidence in MS as a bank/wealth manager play. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Product pipeline upside: coverage referenced Morgan Stanley’s upcoming spot Bitcoin ETF and related digital-asset activity — a new ETF product and related trading/asset-gathering could create recurring fee revenue and trading commissions. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Solid fundamentals (recent quarter): Morgan Stanley’s last reported quarter beat EPS and revenue expectations, supporting the valuation and reinforcing investor confidence in recurring investment‑banking and wealth‑management profitability. (Company results: Jan 15 release)
• Neutral Sentiment: Research flow and analyst notes: MS research has been active — trimming price targets on some large tech names (e.g., Meta to $775 while keeping Overweight) and adjusting targets on other coverage names (FUTU, Unity, etc.). That research can move sector sentiment but is mixed for MS’s stock directly. Read More. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Strategic positioning: analysts and coverage note MS is pushing into alternatives and private-credit (EquityZen deal, private credit ramp) — a longer‑term AUM growth driver but execution and margin timing make near‑term impact mixed. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Reputational risk item: the Financial Times reported a Morgan Stanley wealth manager engaged with a high‑profile client’s broker activity before a geopolitical event — such media scrutiny can be a short‑term reputational/headline risk for the wealth business. Read More.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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.