Morgan Stanley Q4 EPS Estimate Reduced by Zacks Research

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – Zacks Research decreased their Q4 2025 earnings estimates for Morgan Stanley in a report issued on Tuesday, December 10th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the financial services provider will post earnings per share of $1.90 for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $1.91. The consensus estimate for Morgan Stanley’s current full-year earnings is $7.33 per share.

Several other research firms also recently commented on MS. UBS Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. HSBC cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.80.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $127.91 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $83.09 and a 52-week high of $136.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $123.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.19. The company has a market capitalization of $206.07 billion, a PE ratio of 19.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. 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 (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,493,000 after buying an additional 3,369,520 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 382.4% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $166,555,000 after buying an additional 1,266,600 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,335,495,000 after buying an additional 590,872 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 71.2% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,370,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $140,077,000 after acquiring an additional 569,789 shares during the period. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,850,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.

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.