Research Analysts’ Recent Ratings Changes for Morgan Stanley (MS)

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

• 8/5/2026 – Morgan Stanley was upgraded by Weiss Ratings from “buy (b-)” to “buy (b)”.
• 8/3/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by UBS Group AG from $255.00 to $260.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 7/21/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by HSBC Holdings plc from $190.00 to $215.00. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock.
• 7/20/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its “sector perform” rating reaffirmed by Royal Bank Of Canada. They now have a $243.00 price target on the stock.
• 7/17/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by BMO Capital Markets from $240.00 to $250.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 7/17/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by Citigroup Inc. from $220.00 to $235.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 7/17/2026 – Morgan Stanley was upgraded by Freedom Capital from “hold” to “strong-buy”.
• 7/16/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by Barclays PLC from $230.00 to $262.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 7/16/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $225.00 to $240.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 7/16/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $187.00 to $195.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 7/16/2026 – Morgan Stanley had its price target raised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $225.00 to $250.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 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.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.19%.

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.