Equities Analysts Set Expectations for Morgan Stanley’s FY2024 Earnings (NYSE:MS)

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research dropped their FY2024 earnings estimates for shares of Morgan Stanley in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, October 8th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the financial services provider will post earnings of $6.87 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $6.91. The consensus estimate for Morgan Stanley’s current full-year earnings is $6.95 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Morgan Stanley’s FY2025 earnings at $7.43 EPS and Q1 2026 earnings at $2.03 EPS.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer cut shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.06.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $110.46 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $111.47. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $100.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $179.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.96%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $797,775.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total value of $4,261,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,146,293.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $10,140,000. Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $27,728,000. DRW Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 247.2% during the 4th quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 22,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,083,000 after acquiring an additional 15,903 shares during the period. Spouting Rock Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $675,000. Finally, GLOBALT Investments LLC GA purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $3,666,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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.