Zacks Research Analysts Decrease Earnings Estimates for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – Research analysts at Zacks Research decreased their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note issued on Tuesday, October 8th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the financial services provider will earn $6.87 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $6.91. The consensus estimate for Morgan Stanley’s current full-year earnings is $7.03 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Morgan Stanley’s FY2025 earnings at $7.43 EPS and Q1 2026 earnings at $2.03 EPS.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.06.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $108.10 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $109.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $175.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.27.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,585,561,000 after buying an additional 5,631,435 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 16.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,681,778,000 after acquiring an additional 3,981,528 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 600.8% during the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,301,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,581,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116,058 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $87,558,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth $85,535,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $4,261,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 442,522 shares in the company, valued at $47,146,293.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total transaction of $21,012,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,759,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $4,261,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 67.40%.

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.