TIAA Trust National Association Lowers Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

TIAA Trust National Association cut its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 44,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,954 shares during the quarter. TIAA Trust National Association’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $5,656,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MS. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,159,000 after acquiring an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 62.1% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 54,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,681,000 after buying an additional 20,871 shares during the period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.8% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 7,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $779,000 after buying an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on MS shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Erste Group Bank downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.33.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $122.17 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $197.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $85.01 and a 52 week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.