Amalgamated Bank Sells 15,027 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Amalgamated Bank trimmed its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 300,034 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,027 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $27,978,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. M&R Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Corton Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the third quarter. Corton Capital Inc. now owns 6,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Excalibur Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.0% during the third quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 13,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,104,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waterfront Wealth Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 14,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total value of $2,324,049.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,009,143.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the sale, the insider now owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057 over the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS traded up $1.11 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $92.65. The stock had a trading volume of 4,439,278 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,545,522. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $90.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.72. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during 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%. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid 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 yield of 3.67%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. TheStreet raised Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. HSBC upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.30.

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.