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

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th.

Morgan Stanley has increased its dividend by an average of 32.4% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 3 years. Morgan Stanley has a dividend payout ratio of 45.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research 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 Performance

MS 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. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.44. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $95.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. TheStreet upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 target price (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.07.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total transaction of $879,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 313,490 shares in the company, valued at $27,562,040.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total value of $879,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 313,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,562,040.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 252,355 shares of company stock valued at $22,356,602 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.