Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Gap Up After Dividend Announcement

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock had previously closed at $112.22, but opened at $116.88. Morgan Stanley shares last traded at $121.14, with a volume of 6,461,296 shares changing hands.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on MS. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.56.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The stock has a market cap of $194.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $99.10.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 16.3% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,681,778,000 after purchasing an additional 3,981,528 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,875,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,251,387,000 after purchasing an additional 303,654 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,597,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,029,970,000 after purchasing an additional 212,551 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,834,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $858,573,000 after purchasing an additional 242,896 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,151,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $672,969,000 after purchasing an additional 57,104 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.