Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.85

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 16th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.85 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th.

Morgan Stanley has raised its dividend by an average of 32.4% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 3 years. Morgan Stanley has a dividend payout ratio of 45.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Morgan Stanley to earn $7.66 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 44.4%.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $92.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $89.68 and a 200 day moving average of $85.44. The firm has a market cap of $151.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.91, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. HSBC lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total transaction of $879,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 313,490 shares in the company, valued at $27,562,040.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $8,730,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at $30,555,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total transaction of $879,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 313,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,562,040.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 252,355 shares of company stock valued at $22,356,602. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.