Zacks Research Raises Earnings Estimates for Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research raised their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for Morgan Stanley in a report issued on Wednesday, January 8th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the financial services provider will post earnings of $7.23 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $7.19. 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 $1.51 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $2.04 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $1.97 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $1.94 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $7.87 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.22 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.05 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.95 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.95 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $8.17 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.80.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $123.41 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $136.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $128.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.42. The company has a market cap of $198.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.78, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MS. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,493,000 after acquiring an additional 3,369,520 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 382.4% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $166,555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266,600 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $89,761,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,335,495,000 after buying an additional 590,872 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 71.2% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,370,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $140,077,000 after buying an additional 569,789 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.32%.

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.