Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.17 EPS

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17, Briefing.com reports. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock traded down $0.16 on Thursday, hitting $106.80. The company had a trading volume of 1,895,086 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,583,612. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $109.11. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $99.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.74. The firm has a market cap of $173.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.38.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Cfra raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, HSBC raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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.