Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.93

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 16th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.925 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85.

Morgan Stanley has raised its dividend payment by an average of 32.4% annually over the last three years. Morgan Stanley has a payout ratio of 48.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Morgan Stanley to earn $7.60 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.70 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 48.7%.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.6 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $104.19 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $169.33 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.38. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $109.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on MS shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America boosted their target price 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. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.18.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total transaction of $21,012,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at $15,759,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 258,954 shares of company stock worth $27,239,058. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.