Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Amalgamated Bank

Amalgamated Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 234,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,918 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $29,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $202,000. FourThought Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $1,251,000. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $528,000. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 7,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 12,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,613,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $129.80 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $84.43 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. The company has a market cap of $209.11 billion, a PE ratio of 16.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $132.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.41.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, HSBC cut Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 corporate insiders.

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.