Analysts Set Expectations for Morgan Stanley Q4 Earnings

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – Seaport Res Ptn boosted their Q4 2025 EPS estimates for shares of Morgan Stanley in a note issued to investors on Thursday, April 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn analyst J. Mitchell now expects that the financial services provider will post earnings of $2.16 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $2.07. The consensus estimate for Morgan Stanley’s current full-year earnings is $8.56 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Morgan Stanley’s Q4 2025 earnings at $2.16 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.51 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.51 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.35 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.35 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $2.34 EPS and Q4 2026 earnings at $2.34 EPS.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $129.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $129.87.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 7.6 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $99.75 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $85.01 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The firm has a market cap of $160.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.56, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Peoples Bank KS bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 104.7% during the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley, a financial holding company, provides various financial products and services to corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. It operates through Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments.