Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS)’s stock price has soared by 3.44 in relation to previous closing price of 120.14. Nevertheless, the company has seen a gain of 5.35% in its stock price over the last five trading days. zacks.com reported 2025-03-24 that Why investors should use the Zacks Earnings ESP tool to help find stocks that are poised to top quarterly earnings estimates.
Is It Worth Investing in Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) Right Now?
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) has a higher price-to-earnings ratio of 15.64x compared to its average ratio, The 36-month beta value for MS is at 1.28. Analysts have varying views on the stock, with 4 analysts rating it as a “buy,” 1 rating it as “overweight,” 17 as “hold,” and 0 as “sell.”
The public float for MS is 1.23B, and currently, shorts hold a 1.16% of that float. The average trading volume for MS on March 25, 2025 was 6.91M shares.
MS’s Market Performance
The stock of Morgan Stanley (MS) has seen a 5.35% increase in the past week, with a -5.63% drop in the past month, and a 2.67% gain in the past quarter. The volatility ratio for the week is 2.59%, and the volatility levels for the past 30 days are at 3.38% for MS. The simple moving average for the past 20 days is 2.63% for MS’s stock, with a 7.58% simple moving average for the past 200 days.
Analysts’ Opinion of MS
Wells Fargo, on the other hand, stated in their research note that they expect to see MS reach a price target of $142. The rating they have provided for MS stocks is “Equal Weight” according to the report published on November 15th, 2024.
HSBC Securities gave a rating of “Buy” to MS, setting the target price at $118 in the report published on October 04th of the previous year.
MS Trading at -4.39% from the 50-Day Moving Average
After a stumble in the market that brought MS to its low price for the period of the last 52 weeks, the company was unable to rebound, for now settling with -12.50% of loss for the given period.
Volatility was left at 3.38%, however, over the last 30 days, the volatility rate increased by 2.59%, as shares sank -4.39% for the moving average over the last 20 days. Over the last 50 days, in opposition, the stock is trading -2.81% lower at present.
During the last 5 trading sessions, MS rose by +5.35%, which changed the moving average for the period of 200-days by +28.67% in comparison to the 20-day moving average, which settled at $121.09. In addition, Morgan Stanley saw -1.15% in overturn over a single year, with a tendency to cut further losses.
Insider Trading
Reports are indicating that there were more than several insider trading activities at MS starting from JAMES P GORMAN, who proposed sale 50,000 shares at the price of $132.00 back on Feb 27 ’25. After this action, JAMES P GORMAN now owns shares of Morgan Stanley, valued at $6,600,000 using the latest closing price.
JAMES P GORMAN, the Chairman Emeritus of Morgan Stanley, proposed sale 100,000 shares at $130.00 during a trade that took place back on Feb 24 ’25, which means that JAMES P GORMAN is holding shares at $13,000,000 based on the most recent closing price.
Stock Fundamentals for MS
Current profitability levels for the company are sitting at:
- 0.47 for the present operating margin
- 0.36 for the gross margin
The net margin for Morgan Stanley stands at 0.23. The total capital return value is set at 0.06. Equity return is now at value 13.16, with 1.11 for asset returns.
Based on Morgan Stanley (MS), the company’s capital structure generated 0.78 points at debt to capital in total, while cash flow to debt ratio is standing at 0.0.
Currently, EBITDA for the company is 17.6 billion with net debt to EBITDA at 27.75. When we switch over and look at the enterprise to sales, we see a ratio of 8.17. The receivables turnover for the company is 0.69for trailing twelve months and the total asset turnover is 0.05. The liquidity ratio also appears to be rather interesting for investors as it stands at 1.39.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Morgan Stanley (MS) has had a mixed performance lately. Opinion on the stock among analysts is bullish, with some giving it a “buy” rating and others a “hold”. It’s important to note that the stock is currently trading at a significant distance from its 50-day moving average and its 52-week high.
