TD Private Client Wealth LLC Has $4.16 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 27.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,629 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,670 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,157,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 108.7% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,393 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,055,000 after buying an additional 4,372 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 4,282 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the period. Taika Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $370,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 499,554 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $62,804,000 after buying an additional 14,283 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $133.62.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS opened at $143.76 on Tuesday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $130.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.27. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $90.94 and a 1 year high of $145.16. The company has a market capitalization of $230.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 12.98%. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is presently 43.43%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction of $95,456.00. Following the sale, the director owned 96,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 335,765 shares in the company, valued at $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

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.

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