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

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of 1.15 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, August 14th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This is a 15.0% increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00.

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 annually for the last 12 consecutive years. Morgan Stanley has a dividend payout ratio of 49.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Morgan Stanley to earn $12.92 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 35.6%.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $211.82 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $214.81 and a 200-day moving average of $190.37. The firm has a market cap of $334.10 billion, a PE ratio of 17.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $136.17 and a twelve month high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. The firm had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 15.65% and a return on equity of 19.51%. The company’s revenue was up 27.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 12.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.50.

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.