Morgan Stanley (MS) To Go Ex-Dividend on April 29th

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 16th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid 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 yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th.

Morgan Stanley has increased its dividend by an average of 32.4% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 3 consecutive years. Morgan Stanley has a dividend payout ratio of 46.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Morgan Stanley to earn $7.44 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 45.7%.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $90.08 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $146.53 billion, a PE ratio of 16.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.43. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on MS. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 price objective (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.13.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total transaction of $841,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 323,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,215,213.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,555,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 201,155 shares of company stock worth $17,564,394. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Main Street Group LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 408.7% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 66.9% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. 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.