Morgan Stanley (MS) Expected to Announce Earnings on Tuesday

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) is projected to announce its earnings results before the market opens on Tuesday, April 15th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $2.22 per share and revenue of $16.81 billion for the quarter. Parties that wish to listen to the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect Morgan Stanley to post $9 EPS for the current fiscal year and $9 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $100.70 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $126.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.68, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. 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 52 week low of $85.01 and a 52 week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.87.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Morgan Stanley stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,607,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

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.