Amalgamated Bank Cuts Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Amalgamated Bank lowered its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 235,470 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,558 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $33,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Savvy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 12,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,774,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $233,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 169,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,862,000 after buying an additional 8,781 shares in the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,420,000 after buying an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 120.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on MS. Citigroup raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $163.84 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $140.51. The company has a market cap of $261.55 billion, a PE ratio of 16.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $167.13.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 41.03%.

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.