Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Sells 5,977 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 171,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,977 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $21,524,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 12,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,546,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 13,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,671,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 2,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. HSBC cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 3.0 %

MS opened at $133.11 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $132.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $84.43 and a one year high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.60%.

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.