Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68, Briefing.com reports. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 5.2 %

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $131.08 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $211.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $83.09 and a 12-month high of $136.24. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $128.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $113.02.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MS. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.07.

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.