Zacks Research Cuts Earnings Estimates for Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – Zacks Research cut their Q4 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Morgan Stanley in a report issued on Tuesday, December 10th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the financial services provider will post earnings per share of $1.90 for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $1.91. The consensus estimate for Morgan Stanley’s current full-year earnings is $7.33 per share.

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

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on MS. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC cut Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.80.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $127.40 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $124.26 and its 200 day moving average is $108.45. The company has a market cap of $205.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after acquiring an additional 3,369,520 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 382.4% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $166,555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266,600 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 590,872 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 71.2% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,370,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $140,077,000 after purchasing an additional 569,789 shares during the period. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $43,850,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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