Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) to Issue $0.85 Quarterly Dividend

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 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 dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th.

Morgan Stanley has increased its dividend payment by an average of 32.4% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 3 consecutive years. Morgan Stanley has a dividend payout ratio of 45.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Stock Up 0.3 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $92.83 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $95.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The company has a 50 day moving average of $89.68 and a 200-day moving average of $85.40.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.70 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

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 shares were sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total value 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total value 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at $8,140,842.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 252,355 shares of company stock worth $22,356,602 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TheStreet upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 price objective (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.07.

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.