Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.57 EPS

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.57, FiscalAI reports. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 15.65%.The business had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Here are the key takeaways from Morgan Stanley’s conference call:

• Morgan Stanley reported record second-quarter results, with revenue of $21.3 billion, EPS ex-CVA of $3.46, and ROTCE of 26.6%, contributing to an exceptionally strong first half of 2026.
• Wealth Management delivered record revenue of $8.9 billion and record net new assets of $148 billion, helped by strong workplace-channel inflows, IPO-related flows, and continued growth in fee-based assets.
• Institutional Securities had a record $11 billion revenue quarter, led by an exceptional $6.3 billion equities result and stronger investment banking activity across advisory, equity underwriting, and fixed income underwriting.
• Investment Management reached a milestone $2 trillion in AUM, with $7.5 billion of long-term net inflows and continued strength in alternatives and Parametric solutions.
• The firm highlighted strong capital generation, ending with a 14.8% CET1 ratio, repurchasing $1.5 billion of stock, and raising the quarterly dividend by 15% to $1.15 per share, while maintaining a disciplined approach to capital deployment and acquisitions.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 4.5%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $218.37 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $211.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.52. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $136.17 and a fifty-two week high of $232.25. The firm has a market cap of $344.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.23%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total value of $2,120,758.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,917,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,648,354,000 after buying an additional 3,364,080 shares in the last quarter. Blue Sparrow LLC DE acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $189,371,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 40.2% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,933,604 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $466,326,000 after acquiring an additional 841,263 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $144,401,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $139,634,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Daiwa Securities Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, HSBC lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $219.55.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley delivered record Q2 revenue and profit, with earnings and sales beating expectations by a wide margin, which is driving bullish investor reaction.
• Positive Sentiment: The firm’s wealth management and institutional businesses showed strong momentum, including record client assets and robust trading/dealmaking activity, signaling healthy core growth.
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its quarterly dividend 15% to $1.15 per share, a shareholder-friendly move that can support sentiment around capital strength and cash generation.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several analysts reiterated or raised price targets after the earnings release, suggesting the results may help reset expectations, though the stock had already been trading near recent highs.
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley also completed its E*TRADE spot crypto rollout, expanding its retail platform offering, but this looks more like a strategic long-term growth initiative than the main driver today.

About Morgan Stanley

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.