FY2026 EPS Forecast for Morgan Stanley Boosted by Analyst

Key Points

• Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley’s FY2026 EPS forecast to $12.91 from $12.79, above the current consensus estimate of $12.83, while maintaining a “Hold” rating.
• Morgan Stanley exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $3.03 versus $2.93 expected and revenue of $20.34 billion, up 11.6% year over year.
• Analysts give the stock a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with a $214.62 price target, while Morgan Stanley is set to pay a quarterly dividend of $1.15 per share.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) - Investment analysts at Erste Group Bank boosted their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note issued on Wednesday, October 21st. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now anticipates that the financial services provider will post earnings of $12.91 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $12.79. Erste Group Bank currently has a "Hold" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Morgan Stanley's current full-year earnings is $12.83 per share.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.10. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 19.40%. The business had revenue of $20.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. Morgan Stanley's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Zacks Research cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $230.00 price target (down from $250.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Morgan Stanley from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $214.62.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $179.40 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $282.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $200.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $204.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $152.80 and a 52-week high of $232.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Marquette Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 143.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Atlatl Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 55.7% during the second quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC now owns 137 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Bayban grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 72.5% during the first quarter. Bayban now owns 188 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Security National Bank of SO Dak acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.51%.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley is expanding its wealth-management strategy in the United Kingdom, targeting the country’s substantial pool of household savings. The initiative supports the firm’s long-term effort to diversify beyond market-sensitive investment banking and equities activity. Morgan Stanley Bets on UK Savers After Equities Revenue Jumps 41%
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighting a 41% increase in equities revenue reinforces the strength of Morgan Stanley’s trading and institutional-securities businesses, adding support to the company’s recent earnings momentum.
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are positioning asset tokenization as a significant growth opportunity. Wider adoption of tokenized financial assets could create new investment-banking, trading, custody and wealth-management revenue streams over time. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley Frame Tokenization as Key Growth Opportunity
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary notes that Morgan Stanley has fallen about 11% over the past month and questions whether the decline reflects an attractive entry point or an elevated valuation. This framing may be contributing to short-term caution, even though it is not a new company-specific warning. Morgan Stanley Just Dropped 11% in a Month
• Neutral Sentiment: Higher price targets for Morgan Stanley preferred stock are relevant primarily to preferred shareholders and have limited direct implications for the common stock.
• Negative Sentiment: With the common shares trading below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages, investors may be taking profits or reducing exposure after a strong run, despite solid fundamentals. This technical and valuation pressure appears to be the most likely explanation for the weaker share performance today.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley NYSE: MS is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, institutions, governments and individual investors. Founded in 1935, the company is headquartered in New York City and serves clients through operations across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other international markets.

Through its Institutional Securities segment, Morgan Stanley offers investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading, research, lending and related capital-markets services.

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