Q1 EPS Estimates for Morgan Stanley Lifted by Zacks Research

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research increased their Q1 2025 earnings estimates for shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, November 6th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the financial services provider will post earnings per share of $2.01 for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $1.98. The consensus estimate for Morgan Stanley’s current full-year earnings is $7.29 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Morgan Stanley’s Q2 2025 earnings at $1.94 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.15 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $1.97 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.86 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $7.84 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 the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%.

MS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price 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. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.24.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.9 %

MS stock opened at $132.31 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $109.83 and a 200-day moving average of $102.77. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $74.55 and a fifty-two week high of $133.99. The company has a market capitalization of $213.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.14, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MS. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,681,778,000 after buying an additional 3,981,528 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 600.8% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,301,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,581,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116,058 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at $87,558,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 433.4% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 779,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,392,000 after purchasing an additional 633,319 shares during the period. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth $43,850,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 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.