Zacks Research Expects Higher Earnings for Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research raised their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Morgan Stanley in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, March 19th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the financial services provider will earn $2.21 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $2.18. The consensus estimate for Morgan Stanley’s current full-year earnings is $8.56 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Morgan Stanley’s Q2 2025 earnings at $2.02 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.08 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $8.34 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.28 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $2.34 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $9.21 EPS.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on MS. Bank of America raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.60.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $120.26 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $85.01 and a 52 week high of $142.03. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $130.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $122.81. The company has a market cap of $193.96 billion, a PE ratio of 15.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $1,910,200,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 44.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,740,051,000 after purchasing an additional 6,744,333 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,213,599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $324,118,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.