The stock price of Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) has jumped by 4.41 compared to previous close of 121.70. Despite this, the company has seen a gain of 6.24% in its stock price over the last five trading days. businesswire.com reported 2025-05-12 that NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Morgan Stanley at Work (MSAW) today released its second edition of Liquidity Trends: Perspectives from Private Company Leaders. Amid economic and market uncertainty the report reveals private companies at every stage are increasingly planning for liquidity events. Key findings from the report include: Equity compensation adoption has grown significantly. Three out of four (76%) companies now offer equity compensation plans, up 11% from 2021. And it’s not just reserved.
Is It Worth Investing in Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) Right Now?
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) has a price-to-earnings ratio that is above its average at 14.91x. The stock has a 36-month beta value of 1.29. Opinions on the stock are mixed, with 5 analysts rating it as a “buy,” 1 as “overweight,” 17 as “hold,” and 0 as “sell.”
The public float for MS is 1.23B, and at present, short sellers hold a 1.21% of that float. On May 12, 2025, the average trading volume of MS was 7.88M shares.
MS’s Market Performance
MS stock saw an increase of 6.24% in the past week, with a monthly gain of 19.22% and a quarterly increase of -7.46%. The volatility ratio for the week is 1.89%, and the volatility levels for the last 30 days are 2.90% for Morgan Stanley (MS). The simple moving average for the last 20 days is 10.05% for MS’s stock, with a simple moving average of 7.72% for the last 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 9.98% 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 -10.54% of loss for the given period.
Volatility was left at 2.90%, however, over the last 30 days, the volatility rate increased by 1.89%, as shares surge +18.17% for the moving average over the last 20 days. Over the last 50 days, in opposition, the stock is trading -4.02% lower at present.
During the last 5 trading sessions, MS rose by +6.82%, which changed the moving average for the period of 200-days by +25.29% in comparison to the 20-day moving average, which settled at $115.50. In addition, Morgan Stanley saw 1.07% in overturn over a single year, with a tendency to cut further gains.
Insider Trading
Reports are indicating that there were more than several insider trading activities at MS starting from Herz Robert H, who sale 800 shares at the price of $119.32 back on May 02 ’25. After this action, Herz Robert H now owns 96,760 shares of Morgan Stanley, valued at $95,459 using the latest closing price.
SAPERSTEIN ANDREW M, the Co-President of Morgan Stanley, sale 40,000 shares at $120.00 during a trade that took place back on May 02 ’25, which means that SAPERSTEIN ANDREW M is holding 335,765 shares at $4,799,812 based on the most recent closing price.
Stock Fundamentals for MS
Current profitability levels for the company are sitting at:
- 0.36 for the present operating margin
- 0.29 for the gross margin
The net margin for Morgan Stanley stands at 0.19. The total capital return value is set at 0.06. Equity return is now at value 13.88, with 1.13 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 18.23. When we switch over and look at the enterprise to sales, we see a ratio of 6.66. The receivables turnover for the company is 0.85for trailing twelve months and the total asset turnover is 0.06. The liquidity ratio also appears to be rather interesting for investors as it stands at 1.48.
Conclusion
To sum up, Morgan Stanley (MS) has seen a better performance recently. Analysts have differing views on the stock, with some seeing it as a “buy” and others as a “hold”. It is worth mentioning that the stock is currently trading in close proximity to its 50-day moving average and its 52-week high.
