Zacks Research Predicts Stronger Earnings for Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – Research analysts at Zacks Research raised their Q1 2026 earnings per share estimates for Morgan Stanley in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, March 19th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the financial services provider will earn $2.20 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $2.19. The consensus estimate for Morgan Stanley’s current full-year earnings is $8.56 per share.

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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on MS. HSBC downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.60.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $120.26 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.13. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $85.01 and a 12-month high of $142.03. The company has a market capitalization of $193.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. 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.