Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Amica Retiree Medical Trust

Amica Retiree Medical Trust lowered its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,189 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up approximately 0.9% of Amica Retiree Medical Trust’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Amica Retiree Medical Trust’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $921,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 64,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,116,000 after purchasing an additional 10,056 shares during the last quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $234,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 77,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,730,000 after acquiring an additional 18,565 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 822,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $103,370,000 after acquiring an additional 13,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $1,178,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $122.17 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $130.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $123.50. The company 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 12-month low of $85.01 and a 12-month high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley 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 transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on MS shares. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.33.

Morgan Stanley 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.