Zacks Research Expects Stronger Earnings for Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – Zacks Research upped their FY2024 EPS estimates for Morgan Stanley in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, November 19th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the financial services provider will post earnings of $7.18 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $7.17. The consensus estimate for Morgan Stanley’s current full-year earnings is $7.32 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Morgan Stanley’s Q1 2025 earnings at $2.02 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $1.95 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.91 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $7.77 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.17 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $7.97 EPS.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. HSBC upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.94.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 2.6 %

NYSE MS opened at $135.17 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $217.76 billion, a PE ratio of 20.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a fifty day moving average of $115.43 and a 200 day moving average of $104.89. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $76.33 and a 1 year high of $135.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,159,000 after purchasing an additional 36,120 shares during the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth $2,660,000. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 17.8% during the 2nd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 115.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 223,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,305,000 after purchasing an additional 119,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth $87,558,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.

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.