Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Mutual of America Capital Management reduced its Morgan Stanley stake by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, selling 6,008 shares and leaving it with 146,121 shares worth about $25.9 million.
• Morgan Stanley reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $3.43 topping estimates by $0.41 and revenue rising 16% year over year to $20.58 billion.
• Wall Street remains generally constructive on the stock, with analysts assigning a Moderate Buy rating and an average price target of $205.95, while the shares recently traded near $211 after hitting a 1-year high.

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 146,121 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,008 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $25,941,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $21,253,554,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361,940 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,321,214 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,343,523,000 after acquiring an additional 167,487 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,070,557 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,786,350,000 after acquiring an additional 534,708 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,018,335 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,441,505,000 after acquiring an additional 524,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,736,648,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Daiwa Securities Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $171.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $205.95.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $211.07 on Tuesday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $184.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $332.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $126.36 and a 1 year high of $212.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The company had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s analysts and strategists remain active and constructive across several key themes, including AI infrastructure, cloud spending, and global growth opportunities, which can support investor confidence in the firm’s research franchise and advisory relevance.
• Positive Sentiment: The firm was cited in coverage on India equities, where Morgan Stanley reiterated a bullish long-term view despite near-term headwinds, reinforcing its reputation as a well-followed macro and market strategist. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley also drew attention for bullish calls on AI-related names such as Microsoft and other large-cap tech leaders, which may be supporting optimism around the bank’s equity research and wealth management insights. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company was also mentioned in connection with a sector rotation study from E*TRADE, but that release is more informational than directly stock-moving. Article Title

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the sale, the insider owned 282,142 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley NYSE: MS is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company's chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm's primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.

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