Spotlight on Morgan Stanley: Analyzing the Surge in Options Activity - Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Financial giants have made a conspicuous bearish move on Morgan Stanley. Our analysis of options history for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) revealed 9 unusual trades.

Delving into the details, we found 22% of traders were bullish, while 33% showed bearish tendencies. Out of all the trades we spotted, 4 were puts, with a value of $356,130, and 5 were calls, valued at $598,130.

What's The Price Target?

Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts, it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from $110.0 to $200.0 for Morgan Stanley over the last 3 months.

Volume & Open Interest Trends

Assessing the volume and open interest is a strategic step in options trading. These metrics shed light on the liquidity and investor interest in Morgan Stanley's options at specified strike prices. The forthcoming data visualizes the fluctuation in volume and open interest for both calls and puts, linked to Morgan Stanley's substantial trades, within a strike price spectrum from $110.0 to $200.0 over the preceding 30 days.

Morgan Stanley Call and Put Volume: 30-Day Overview

Largest Options Trades Observed:

Symbol	PUT/CALL	Trade Type	Sentiment	Exp. Date	Ask	Bid	Price	Strike Price	Total Trade Price	Open Interest	Volume
MS	CALL	SWEEP	BEARISH	12/18/26	$8.5	$7.8	$7.8	$200.00	$233.6K	591	15
MS	PUT	TRADE	BULLISH	12/19/25	$6.8	$6.65	$6.65	$165.00	$216.7K	390	329
MS	CALL	TRADE	BEARISH	12/19/25	$6.1	$5.9	$5.9	$165.00	$168.1K	2.4K	325
MS	CALL	SWEEP	NEUTRAL	01/16/26	$12.55	$12.35	$12.35	$160.00	$123.5K	4.6K	114
MS	PUT	SWEEP	NEUTRAL	12/18/26	$12.3	$12.1	$12.1	$150.00	$66.5K	377	300

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley is a massive global financial services firm, with offices in 42 countries and more than 80,000 employees as of year-end 2024. The firm cut its teeth in investment banking and institutional trading, where it maintains a strong presence today, but generates the lion share of its income from wealth and asset management franchises, where it boasted $7.9 trillion in client assets at the end of its most recent fiscal year. After reincorporation as a bank holding company in the wake of the global financial crisis, Morgan Stanley also boasts a top 10 banking franchise by deposits, with nearly $400 billion in customer deposits, predominately attributable to cash sweeps from its wealth management and brokerage businesses.

In light of the recent options history for Morgan Stanley, it's now appropriate to focus on the company itself. We aim to explore its current performance.

Where Is Morgan Stanley Standing Right Now?

With a volume of 1,377,300, the price of MS is up 0.86% at $165.41.
RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be approaching overbought.
Next earnings are expected to be released in 71 days.

Professional Analyst Ratings for Morgan Stanley

Over the past month, 5 industry analysts have shared their insights on this stock, proposing an average target price of $176.0.

Turn $1000 into $1270 in just 20 days?

20-year pro options trader reveals his one-line chart technique that shows when to buy and sell. Copy his trades, which have had averaged a 27% profit every 20 days. Click here for access. * Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods keeps a Outperform rating on Morgan Stanley with a target price of $184. * Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Jefferies keeps a Buy rating on Morgan Stanley with a target price of $186. * Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from UBS keeps a Neutral rating on Morgan Stanley with a target price of $165. * An analyst from Citigroup persists with their Neutral rating on Morgan Stanley, maintaining a target price of $170. * Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Evercore ISI Group keeps a Outperform rating on Morgan Stanley with a target price of $175.

Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock, but they have higher profit potential. Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily, scaling in and out of trades, following more than one indicator, and following the markets closely.

If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Morgan Stanley, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.

MSMorgan Stanley

$214.30-0.12%

Overview

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