Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Sells 2,760 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Mutual of America Capital Management LLC has reduced its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.7%, selling 2,760 shares during the second quarter, bringing its total shares to 162,873 valued at approximately $22.94 million.
• Major institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Goldman Sachs, have increased their stakes in Morgan Stanley, with Vanguard boosting its position by 6.9% and Goldman Sachs by 21.2% in the first quarter.
• Analysts have raised price targets for Morgan Stanley, with UBS increasing theirs to $165.00 and Barclays to $183.00, while maintaining an overall consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $165.54.

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 162,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,760 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $22,942,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,740,149,000 after buying an additional 7,636,547 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,990,030,000 after buying an additional 2,989,122 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.0% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,807,153 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,610,881,000 after buying an additional 403,956 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.7% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,063,819 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,523,337,000 after buying an additional 219,729 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,652,910 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,126,205,000 after buying an additional 442,617 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $165.54.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS opened at $158.70 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $166.77. The stock has a market cap of $253.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a 50 day moving average of $153.29 and a 200-day moving average of $137.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.The company had revenue of $18.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.03%.

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.

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