Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) stock is down 1.1% at $115.35 at last check in response to disappointing global deal activity, as well as lower first-quarter revenue from U.S. mergers and acquisitions amid President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The bank stock fell 8.1% so far in 2025 and is eyeing its fourth loss over the past five sessions, but like sector peer Deutsche Bank (DB), it paints an intriguing ‘buy the dip’ opportunity.
Digging deeper, the equity recently pulled back to its its 200-day moving average, a move that has produced gains in the past, according to Schaeffer’s Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White. This comes after a prolonged period above that trendline (defined by White as 80% of the time in the last two months and eight of the last 10 trading days).
A similar move occurred five times in the past three years, after which MS was higher a month later 80% of the time, averaging a 6.6% gain. From its current perch, this would place the stock just shy of $123.
An unwinding of pessimism among short-term traders could fuel additional tailwinds. This is per MS’s Schaeffer’s put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.55 that ranks at the top of annual readings.
It’s worth noting the security usually outperformed options traders’ volatility expectations in the past year. This is per its Schaeffer’s Volatility Scorecard (SVS) of 86 out of 100.
