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

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 162,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,760 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $22,942,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MS. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 111.0% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% during the first quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Abound Wealth Management increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 58.5% during the 2nd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $165.54.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of MS opened at $158.70 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.33 and a 52-week high of $166.77. The business’s fifty day moving average is $153.29 and its 200-day moving average is $137.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm 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.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 41.03%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.