Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.33 EPS

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE MS opened at $90.08 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $95.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.53 billion, a PE ratio of 16.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $88.73 and its 200 day moving average is $84.81.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MS. Bank of America raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 price target (down from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Thirteen investment 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.13.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at $8,140,842.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,842.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total value of $841,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 323,490 shares in the company, valued at $27,215,213.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 201,155 shares of company stock worth $17,564,394 over the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $956,566,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 125,756.8% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,641,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $904,714,000 after acquiring an additional 10,632,735 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,478,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $977,093,000 after buying an additional 2,013,348 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 7,924,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $738,964,000 after acquiring an additional 135,852 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.0% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,074,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $618,303,000 after acquiring an additional 67,791 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.