Q1 EPS Estimates for Morgan Stanley Raised by Zacks Research

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research boosted their Q1 2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, March 19th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the financial services provider will post earnings per share of $2.20 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.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on MS. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Erste Group Bank cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.93.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $124.38 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $130.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $123.31. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $85.01 and a 12-month high of $142.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $200.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,910,200,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 44.8% during 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 buying an additional 6,744,333 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,493,000 after acquiring an additional 3,369,520 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,213,599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $324,118,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

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.