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

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, April 11th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.925 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%.

Morgan Stanley has raised its dividend by an average of 19.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 12 consecutive years. Morgan Stanley has a dividend payout ratio of 39.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Morgan Stanley to earn $9.43 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 39.2%.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $106.38 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $85.01 and a twelve month high of $142.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $124.24. The company has a market cap of $171.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.38. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Erste Group Bank lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Morgan Stanley from $129.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Morgan Stanley stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,607,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.