Seaport Res Ptn Expects Stronger Earnings for Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – Investment analysts at Seaport Res Ptn raised their FY2024 EPS estimates for Morgan Stanley in a research note issued on Tuesday, January 7th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst J. Mitchell now forecasts that the financial services provider will earn $7.43 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $7.35. The consensus estimate for Morgan Stanley’s current full-year earnings is $7.33 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Morgan Stanley’s Q4 2024 earnings at $1.70 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $2.04 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $1.96 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.95 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $8.05 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $9.10 EPS.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. HSBC lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. 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.com, the stock has a consensus 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. The company has a market capitalization of $198.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company’s fifty day moving average is $128.45 and its 200-day moving average is $112.42. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $136.24.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.