Amalgamated Bank Grows Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Amalgamated Bank lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 237,028 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,688 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $27,654,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 10,644 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,242,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 48,498 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,658,000 after buying an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 39.4% during the 1st quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 38,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,538,000 after buying an additional 11,000 shares during the last quarter. CFM Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. CFM Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,642 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,242,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,990,922 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $348,951,000 after buying an additional 185,846 shares during 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 other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 335,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,291,800. This trade represents a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MS. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 target price (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $133.62.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $140.64 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $125.51. The company has a market cap of $225.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.29. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $90.94 and a 12-month high of $142.28.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 12.98%. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.43%.

Morgan Stanley 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.

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