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. The Institutional Securities segment offers capital raising and financial advisory services, including services related to the underwriting of debt, equity, and other securities, as well as advice on mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, real estate, and project finance. This segment also provides sales and trading services, such as sales, financing, prime brokerage, and market-making services in equity and fixed income products consisting of foreign exchange and commodities; corporate and commercial real estate loans, which provides secured lending facilities and financing for sales and trading customers, and asset-backed and mortgage lending; and wealth management services, investment, and research services. The Wealth Management segment offers financial advisor-led brokerage and investment advisory services; self-directed brokerage services; financial and wealth planning services; workplace services, including stock plan administration; annuity and insurance products; securities-based lending, residential real estate loans, and other lending products; banking; and retirement plan services to individual investors and small to medium-sized businesses and institutions. The Investment Management segment provides equity, fixed income, liquidity, and alternative/other products to benefit/defined contribution plans, foundations, endowments, government entities, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, and third-party fund sponsors and corporations through institutional and intermediary channels. Morgan Stanley was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.1 %
Shares of MS Stock traded up $0.96 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $87.09. 86,806 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,741,944. The firm has a market cap of $152.35 billion, a PE ratio of 11.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. The company's 50 day moving average is $79.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.34. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $72.05 and a 1 year high of $109.73.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.32). The firm had revenue of $13.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.50 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.21% and a net margin of 22.76%. Morgan Stanley's revenue for the quarter was down 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.69 EPS for the current year.
Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 29th will be given a $0.775 dividend. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is currently 41.89%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research firms have weighed in on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $105.00 price target on Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, April 20th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 1st. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $123.00 to $108.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 15th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $80.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 28th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $100.75.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo bought 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $79.30 per share, for a total transaction of $1,982,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 179,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,230,305.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
