Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Forecasted to Post Q2 2024 Earnings of $1.62 Per Share

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – Analysts at Zacks Research raised their Q2 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, April 30th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the financial services provider will post earnings of $1.62 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $1.60. The consensus estimate for Morgan Stanley’s current full-year earnings is $6.78 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Morgan Stanley’s Q4 2024 earnings at $1.48 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.00 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $7.77 EPS.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Cfra boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 price objective (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS stock opened at $91.49 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.72. The company has a market capitalization of $148.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.66, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.41. 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 fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $95.57.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at $25,009,143.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at $25,009,143.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $958,105,000. Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at $477,765,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.2% during the 4th 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 period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $512,867,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,917,159,000 after acquiring an additional 4,098,577 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

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.