Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Issues Earnings Results

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

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $106.96 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.74. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $109.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.48, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.38.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. HSBC upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.18.

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.