Q2 EPS Forecast for Morgan Stanley Raised by Analyst

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – Equities researchers at Seaport Res Ptn increased their Q2 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Morgan Stanley in a report released on Sunday, April 13th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst J. Mitchell now expects that the financial services provider will earn $2.06 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $2.02. The consensus estimate for Morgan Stanley’s current full-year earnings is $8.56 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Morgan Stanley’s Q4 2025 earnings at $2.07 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $8.70 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.43 EPS and Q4 2026 earnings at $2.30 EPS.

MS has been the subject of several other reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $130.50.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.1 %

MS opened at $109.06 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $175.89 billion, a PE ratio of 13.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $89.74 and a twelve month high of $142.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $120.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.28. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position 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 during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. The trade was a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 40,665 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,079. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.43%.

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.