Morgan Stanley FY2024 EPS Forecast Lifted by Zacks Research

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research upped their FY2024 earnings estimates for Morgan Stanley in a report issued on Tuesday, November 19th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the financial services provider will post earnings per share of $7.18 for the year, up from their prior forecast of $7.17. 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 Q1 2025 earnings at $2.02 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $1.95 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.91 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $7.77 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.17 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $7.97 EPS.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. HSBC upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.94.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $131.69 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.68. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $76.33 and a fifty-two week high of $135.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 56.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,159,000 after acquiring an additional 36,120 shares during the period. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $2,660,000. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.8% in the second quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 223,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,305,000 after purchasing an additional 119,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $87,558,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.