Morgan Stanley (MS) To Go Ex-Dividend on July 31st

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 16th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.925 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85.

Morgan Stanley has raised its dividend by an average of 32.4% annually over the last three years. Morgan Stanley has a payout ratio of 48.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Morgan Stanley to earn $7.60 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 Stock Up 0.6 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $104.19 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $169.33 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.38. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $109.11. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.26.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 10.17%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,549,326. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total transaction of $106,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 258,954 shares of company stock valued at $27,239,058. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. HSBC increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Oppenheimer downgraded Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Cfra increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.18.

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.