Morgan Stanley slides as risk-off selling hits big banks again

Morgan Stanley (MS) is down 6.5% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The move appears driven more by a broader risk-off selloff in large financials than by a fresh Morgan Stanley-specific announcement. Recent market anxiety about AI-related economic disruption has contributed to abrupt rotations away from cyclical sectors like banks, and MS has been volatile alongside peers.

Details:

MS fell sharply from the prior close near $177.49, trading around the high-$160s during Friday’s session, consistent with a fast de-risking move rather than a gradual drift.

Earlier in the week, major banks saw synchronized declines during a wider equity pullback tied to investor fears sparked by an AI-driven “recession scenario” narrative, which hit financials particularly hard.

MS has already shown above-average sensitivity to these swings in late February, with large one-day percentage moves occurring even without a firm-specific catalyst.

No widely circulated Morgan Stanley press release or SEC filing emerged as an obvious single-company trigger for today’s drop, so macro/sector positioning likely played an outsized role.

Sources:

GuruFocus, Investor's Business Daily, MarketWatch

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$MS Insider Trading Activity

$MS insiders have traded $MS stock on the open market 17 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 17 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $MS stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

EDWARD PICK (Chairman and CEO) sold 100,000 shares for an estimated $16,434,440
DANIEL A SIMKOWITZ (Co-President) sold 32,968 shares for an estimated $6,020,312
ANDREW M SAPERSTEIN (Co-President) has made 0 purchases and 6 sales selling 30,330 shares for an estimated $5,569,085.
ERIC F GROSSMAN (Chief Legal/Admin Officer) sold 21,555 shares for an estimated $3,966,137
MICHAEL A. PIZZI (Head Technology & Operations) sold 20,000 shares for an estimated $3,691,000
SHARON YESHAYA (Chief Financial Officer) sold 15,838 shares for an estimated $2,942,176
CHARLES A SMITH (Chief Risk Officer) sold 8,500 shares for an estimated $1,547,685
MANDELL CRAWLEY (Chief Client Officer) has made 0 purchases and 5 sales selling 7,860 shares for an estimated $1,441,879.

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard.

$MS Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 1,201 institutional investors add shares of $MS stock to their portfolio, and 1,011 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

UBS AM, A DISTINCT BUSINESS UNIT OF UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC removed 27,181,077 shares (-74.8%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $4,825,456,599
CAPITAL INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS removed 6,777,117 shares (-24.8%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $1,203,141,581
CAPITAL WORLD INVESTORS removed 5,048,925 shares (-89.2%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $896,335,655
CAPITAL RESEARCH GLOBAL INVESTORS removed 3,816,598 shares (-19.8%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $677,560,642
PRICE T ROWE ASSOCIATES INC /MD/ added 3,364,080 shares (+29.1%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $597,225,122
WELLINGTON MANAGEMENT GROUP LLP removed 2,880,247 shares (-15.4%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $511,330,249
KINGSTONE CAPITAL PARTNERS TEXAS, LLC removed 2,436,717 shares (-100.0%) from their portfolio in Q3 2025, for an estimated $387,340,534

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard.

$MS Congressional Stock Trading

Members of Congress have traded $MS stock 7 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 3 have been purchases and 4 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $MS stock by members of Congress over the last 6 months:

REPRESENTATIVE JULIE JOHNSON has traded it 2 times. They made 0 purchases and 2 sales worth up to $30,000 on 12/18, 11/13.
REPRESENTATIVE STEVE COHEN sold up to $100,000 on 12/17.
REPRESENTATIVE GILBERT RAY CISNEROS, JR. has traded it 2 times. They made 2 purchases worth up to $30,000 on 11/18, 10/17 and 0 sales.
REPRESENTATIVE VAL T. HOYLE sold up to $15,000 on 09/23.
REPRESENTATIVE MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE purchased up to $15,000 on 09/11.

To track congressional stock trading, check out Quiver Quantitative's congressional trading dashboard.

$MS Analyst Ratings

Wall Street analysts have issued reports on $MS in the last several months. We have seen 6 firms issue buy ratings on the stock, and 0 firms issue sell ratings.

Here are some recent analyst ratings:

Barclays issued a "Overweight" rating on 01/05/2026
Wolfe Research issued a "Outperform" rating on 11/24/2025
Jefferies issued a "Buy" rating on 10/16/2025
Keefe, Bruyette & Woods issued a "Outperform" rating on 10/16/2025
Evercore ISI Group issued a "Outperform" rating on 10/16/2025
BMO Capital issued a "Outperform" rating on 10/03/2025

To track analyst ratings and price targets for $MS, check out Quiver Quantitative's $MS forecast page.

$MS Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $MS recently. We have seen 10 analysts offer price targets for $MS in the last 6 months, with a median target of $176.0.

Here are some recent targets:

Christopher McGratty from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods set a target price of $210.0 on 01/16/2026
Kian Abouhossein from JP Morgan set a target price of $162.0 on 01/08/2026
Jason Goldberg from Barclays set a target price of $219.0 on 01/05/2026
Glenn Schorr from Evercore ISI Group set a target price of $175.0 on 10/16/2025
Mike Mayo from Wells Fargo set a target price of $177.0 on 10/16/2025
Daniel Fannon from Jefferies set a target price of $186.0 on 10/16/2025
Keith Horowitz from Citigroup set a target price of $170.0 on 10/16/2025

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.