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Here's How Much You'd Have If You Invested $1000 in Morgan Stanley a Decade Ago

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For most investors, how much a stock's price changes over time is important. Not only can it impact your investment portfolio, but it can also help you compare investment results across sectors and industries.

Another factor that can influence investors is FOMO, or the fear of missing out, especially with tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.

What if you'd invested in Morgan Stanley (MS - Free Report) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to MS for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?

Morgan Stanley's Business In-Depth

With that in mind, let's take a look at Morgan Stanley's main business drivers.

Founded in 1935 and incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware in 1981, Morgan Stanley is the leading financial services holding company headquartered in New York. With 74,814 employees, the company serves a diversified group of clients and customers — including corporations, governments, financial institutions and individuals — through offices across 41 countries.

The company’s business is divided into three segments:

The Institutional Securities ("IS") segment (contributing 50% of total net revenues in 2021) includes capital raising; financial advisory services that include advices on mergers and acquisitions (M&As), restructurings, real estate and project finance; corporate lending; sales, trading, financing and market-making activities in equity and fixed income securities and related products, including foreign exchange and commodities; benchmark indices and risk management analytics; and investment activities.

The Wealth Management ("WM") segment (40%) provides brokerage and investment advisory services covering various investment alternatives; financial and wealth planning services; annuity and other insurance products; credit and other lending products; cash management services; retirement services; and trust and fiduciary services and engages in fixed income principal trading.

The Investment Management ("IM") segment (10%) provides global asset management products and services in equity, fixed income, alternative investments that include hedge funds and funds of funds, and merchant banking including real estate, private equity and infrastructure, to institutional and retail clients through proprietary and third-party distribution channels. The segment also engages in investment.

In 2019, Morgan Stanley acquired Canada-based Solium Capital Inc. and renamed it as Shareworks by Morgan Stanley. In 2020, the company acquired E*Trade Financial. In 2021, it acquired Eaton Vance.

Bottom Line

While anyone can invest, building a lucrative investment portfolio takes research, patience, and a little bit of risk. If you had invested in Morgan Stanley ten years ago, you're probably feeling pretty good about your investment today.

According to our calculations, a $1000 investment made in February 2012 would be worth $5,345.62, or a 434.56% gain, as of February 10, 2022. Investors should keep in mind that this return excludes dividends but includes price appreciation.

Compare this to the S&P 500's rally of 239.30% and gold's return of 1.90% over the same time frame.

Going forward, analysts are expecting more upside for MS.

Morgan Stanley's shares have outperformed the industry over the past year. Its earnings outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters. Its fourth-quarter results were aided by growth in revenues, partly offset by higher costs. The company has been continuously making efforts to focus less on the capital markets-driven revenue sources. The acquisitions of Eaton Vance and E*Trade Financial are a step in this direction. Increased focus on corporate lending will keep supporting financials. However, elevated costs due to investments in franchise will likely hurt profits. Lower interest rates and uncertainty about the performance of the capital markets make us apprehensive. Yet, the company’s robust capital deployment activities reflect a solid liquidity position, through which it will enhance shareholder value.

The stock has jumped 5.51% over the past four weeks. Additionally, no earnings estimate has gone lower in the past two months, compared to 7 higher, for fiscal 2022; the consensus estimate has moved up as well.

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