Morgan Stanley Q1 EPS Forecast Increased by Zacks Research

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q1 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Morgan Stanley in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, November 5th. Zacks Research analyst Team now expects that the financial services provider will earn $2.52 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $2.37. Zacks Research currently has a “Strong-Buy” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Morgan Stanley’s current full-year earnings is $8.56 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Morgan Stanley’s Q3 2026 earnings at $2.30 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $9.41 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $2.45 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $9.95 EPS.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:MS opened at $162.31 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $158.11 and its 200-day moving average is $142.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $167.13. The firm has a market cap of $257.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. The firm had revenue of $18.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.88 EPS.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MS. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,234,883,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,740,149,000 after purchasing an additional 7,636,547 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth about $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,990,030,000 after purchasing an additional 2,989,122 shares during the period. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at approximately $343,236,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.03%.

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.