Zacks Research Boosts Earnings Estimates for Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – Analysts at Zacks Research increased their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for 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 $7.19 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $7.18. The consensus estimate for Morgan Stanley’s current full-year earnings is $7.32 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 brokerages have also recently weighed in on MS. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. HSBC lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.80.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $127.91 on Thursday. 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 simple moving average is $123.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.05. The firm has a market cap of $206.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $83.09 and a 52-week high of $136.24.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 56.32%.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley 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 completion of 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MS. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 6,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $637,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 34.7% in the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 13,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after buying an additional 3,410 shares during the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,000. Silver Lake Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at $528,000. Finally, Pure Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth $284,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

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.