Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) to Issue Dividend Increase - $1.00 Per Share

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, July 18th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of 1.00 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, August 15th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This is a 8.1% increase from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93.

Morgan Stanley has a dividend payout ratio of 39.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 $3.70 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 39.2%.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS traded down $0.10 on Friday, reaching $140.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,572,318 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,580,971. The stock's 50-day moving average is $134.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.23. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $90.94 and a 52-week high of $145.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $225.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.95, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.33%. The business had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $138.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. The trade was a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 399,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,325,688.65. The trade was a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 188,949 shares of company stock valued at $25,737,084 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Morgan Stanley stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 10.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,782 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,185 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.