Morgan Stanley (MS) – Analysts’ Weekly Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have updated their recommendations and price targets on shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) in the last few weeks:

• 7/7/2026 – Morgan Stanley was upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group Inc. from “hold” to “strong-buy”.
• 7/7/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by Bank of America Corporation from $225.00 to $250.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 7/7/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by UBS Group AG from $214.00 to $255.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 7/6/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by Evercore Inc.
• 7/6/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. from $211.00 to $233.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 7/2/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its “buy (b-)” rating reaffirmed by Weiss Ratings.
• 6/30/2026 – Morgan Stanley was downgraded by Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc. from “market perform” to “underperform”.
• 6/29/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by BMO Capital Markets from $220.00 to $240.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 6/25/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by Rothschild & Co Redburn from $183.00 to $195.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 6/24/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $200.00 to $225.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 6/23/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by Citigroup Inc. from $194.00 to $220.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 6/12/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $179.00 to $187.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 5/27/2026 – Morgan Stanley was downgraded by Zacks Research from “strong-buy” to “hold”.
• 5/19/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by CICC Research from $175.00 to $200.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% 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 in the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.