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

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 16th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.925 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, November 15th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st.

Morgan Stanley has raised its dividend payment by an average of 32.4% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 11 years. Morgan Stanley has a payout ratio of 48.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Morgan Stanley to earn $7.59 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 Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MS traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $119.45. The company had a trading volume of 9,355,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,120,930. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.96. The firm has a market cap of $194.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $121.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was 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 $4,549,326. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Oppenheimer cut Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. UBS Group raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.56.

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.