FY2026 EPS Estimates for Morgan Stanley Raised by Analyst

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) – Investment analysts at Erste Group Bank lifted their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for Morgan Stanley in a research report issued on Monday, April 27th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now expects that the financial services provider will post earnings per share of $11.93 for the year, up from their prior estimate of $11.35. Erste Group Bank currently has a “Buy” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Morgan Stanley’s current full-year earnings is $11.80 per share. Erste Group Bank also issued estimates for Morgan Stanley’s FY2027 earnings at $12.77 EPS.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 14.65%.Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $171.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. UBS Group raised Morgan Stanley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $196.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $201.89.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $190.19 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $170.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $172.52. The firm has a market cap of $300.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.23, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.19. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $112.03 and a 52-week high of $194.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 36.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 32,968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.61, for a total transaction of $6,020,286.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 357,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,254,222.62. This represents a 8.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 110,444 shares of company stock valued at $20,665,049 in the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Walser Wealth Management Company A Ltd Liability Co grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.1% during the 1st quarter. Walser Wealth Management Company A Ltd Liability Co now owns 7,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,216,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285 shares in the last quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 19,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,189,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 51.1% during the 1st quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 12,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,133,000 after acquiring an additional 4,383 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 18,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 5,838 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $961,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Morgan Stanley News

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group raised Morgan Stanley’s FY2026 and FY2027 EPS forecasts and reiterated a Buy stance — the firm boosted FY2026 to $11.93 and FY2027 to $12.77, which supports higher valuation expectations and helped lift sentiment. Erste Group raises MS EPS estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group (reported elsewhere) also upgraded MS from Hold to Buy — an outright analyst upgrade reinforces demand from institutional investors. Erste upgrades Morgan Stanley (Finviz link)
• Positive Sentiment: Firm commentary and research out of Morgan Stanley (MarketWatch coverage) is pitching a constructive market backdrop — management/research sees reduced downside risk and ongoing momentum from earnings, capex and AI adoption, which supports investment-banking and wealth-management flows. Why Morgan Stanley sees little possibility of a stock-market retreat
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader sell?side attention — headlines highlighting Morgan Stanley’s research activity (price?target updates on other companies) show the firm remains active and visible, which can drive trading volume but is not an immediate earnings signal for MS itself. MS research: price-target actions (example)
• Neutral Sentiment: Crypto/ETF timing commentary mentioning major institutional players (including MS) suggests participation in emerging product flows (e.g., Bitcoin ETF space), but analysts warn adoption will take 12–18 months — a medium-term potential revenue lift rather than an immediate catalyst. Bitcoin ETF institutional adoption timeline
• Negative Sentiment: Macro/geopolitical risk (oil/Strait of Hormuz disruption) increases market volatility — a sudden risk?off move can pressure trading revenues and short?term investor sentiment for banks including MS. Investors are watching macro headlines even as bank?specific news is positive. Oil rises as talks stall — market risk

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.