Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Set to Pay Quarterly Dividend of $1.15

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, November 13th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 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 annually for the last 12 consecutive years. Morgan Stanley has a payout ratio of 49.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Morgan Stanley to earn $13.08 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 35.2%.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $181.65 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $205.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $203.47. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $152.80 and a 1-year high of $232.25. The firm has a market cap of $286.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $20.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.93 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 15.65%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 12.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $78,825,883,310. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,326,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,686,881,000 after acquiring an additional 87,533 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,206,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,342,532,000 after purchasing an additional 188,296 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 9,794,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,611,846,000 after purchasing an additional 422,775 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,235,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,190,585,000 after purchasing an additional 65,739 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm serving corporations, governments, financial institutions, individuals and other investors. The company provides investment banking and advisory services, including mergers and acquisitions advice, equity and debt underwriting, securities sales and trading, and corporate lending.

Through its Wealth Management business, Morgan Stanley offers financial planning, brokerage, investment advisory and banking services to individual investors, businesses and institutions.