Morgan Stanley (MS) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.00 on February 13th

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be paid a dividend of 1.00 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, February 13th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th.

Morgan Stanley has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.2%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 12 years. Morgan Stanley has a payout ratio of 43.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Morgan Stanley to earn $9.43 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 42.4%.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.1%

MS stock opened at $189.17 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-year high of $192.68. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $175.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $159.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $300.65 billion, a PE ratio of 18.53, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.40. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 16.92%. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 32.2% in the 2nd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 4,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $621,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 889,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $125,360,000 after purchasing an additional 58,262 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,914,000 after purchasing an additional 1,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Point Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 10,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.