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

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 17th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of 0.85 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th.

Morgan Stanley has raised its dividend payment by an average of 32.4% per year 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 46.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Morgan Stanley to earn $7.23 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 47.0%.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.9 %

Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.78 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $89.92. 6,897,716 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,901,383. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $95.57. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.49% and a return on equity of 10.36%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 price objective (down from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Cfra upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,555,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at $30,555,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total value of $4,396,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,172,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 208,155 shares of company stock valued at $18,149,314. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $956,566,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 125,756.8% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,641,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $904,714,000 after acquiring an additional 10,632,735 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at $451,711,000. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,478,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $977,093,000 after acquiring an additional 2,013,348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 22.1% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,704,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $485,007,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031,745 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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.