Q1 EPS Estimates for Morgan Stanley Raised by Zacks Research

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research raised their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report issued on Thursday, February 6th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the financial services provider will post earnings of $2.18 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $2.04. The consensus estimate for Morgan Stanley’s current full-year earnings is $8.52 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Morgan Stanley’s Q2 2025 earnings at $2.01 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.03 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.07 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $8.29 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.26 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $9.94 EPS.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.5 %

MS stock opened at $141.06 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $227.26 billion, a PE ratio of 17.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $130.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $141.48.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Destination Wealth Management raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 4,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 30,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,881,000 after buying an additional 6,427 shares in the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,196,000. Chatham Capital Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. now owns 19,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,498,000 after buying an additional 655 shares in the last quarter. Finally, E Fund Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $386,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.