Analysts Issue Forecasts for Morgan Stanley’s Q3 2024 Earnings (NYSE:MS)

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – Research analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q3 2024 earnings estimates for Morgan Stanley in a report issued on Tuesday, April 30th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the financial services provider will post earnings of $1.61 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $1.56. The consensus estimate for Morgan Stanley’s current full-year earnings is $6.84 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Morgan Stanley’s FY2024 earnings at $6.74 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $1.93 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $1.95 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $1.90 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.71 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $7.48 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.1 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $93.64 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $95.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $90.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.87. The company has a market capitalization of $152.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.41.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.70 earnings per share.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in 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 worth $3,585,561,000 after acquiring an additional 5,631,435 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,499,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,284,674,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865,645 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,917,159,000 after buying an additional 4,098,577 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,250,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,888,380,000 after buying an additional 517,446 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 20,197,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,883,392,000 after buying an additional 575,114 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at $37,425,422.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at $37,425,422.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total value of $2,324,049.45. Following the sale, the insider now owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057 in the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

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.