Morgan Stanley Announces Quarterly Dividend of $1.00 (NYSE:MS)

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be given a dividend of 1.00 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, May 15th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th.

Morgan Stanley has increased its dividend by an average of 0.2%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 12 consecutive years. Morgan Stanley has a dividend payout ratio of 43.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Morgan Stanley to earn $9.43 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 42.4%.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 4.5%

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $191.52 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $104.78 and a fifty-two week high of $194.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $302.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.76, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $168.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 14.09%.Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 15,838 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.77, for a total value of $2,942,225.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 135,304 shares in the company, valued at $25,135,424.08. The trade was a 10.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 30,330 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.62, for a total transaction of $5,569,194.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 280,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,501,921.22. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 129,191 shares of company stock valued at $23,736,506. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.