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

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) announced 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 3.77%. 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 increased its dividend annually for the last 3 consecutive years. Morgan Stanley has a payout ratio of 46.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.94 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $90.08. 9,540,860 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,944,244. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $88.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 9.49%. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.70 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total value of $2,324,049.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the sale, the insider now owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,009,143.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total value of $841,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 323,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,215,213.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 208,155 shares of company stock valued at $18,149,314. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $956,566,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 10,632,735 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,478,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $977,093,000 after purchasing an additional 2,013,348 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 7,924,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $738,964,000 after purchasing an additional 135,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,074,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $618,303,000 after purchasing an additional 67,791 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price 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. TheStreet raised Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.13.

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.