Morgan Stanley FY2024 EPS Forecast Lifted by Zacks Research

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research lifted their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report issued on Tuesday, December 10th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the financial services provider will post earnings per share of $7.19 for the year, up from their prior forecast of $7.18. The consensus estimate for Morgan Stanley’s current full-year earnings is $7.33 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Morgan Stanley’s Q4 2024 earnings at $1.47 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $2.03 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $1.90 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.20 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.00 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.92 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $8.03 EPS.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on MS. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.80.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $127.40 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $123.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.19. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $136.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 56.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley 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. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $391,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.3% in the third quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.8% in the third quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 3,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $380,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.9% in the third quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 2,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.3% during the third quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 33,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,529,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 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.