TD Private Client Wealth LLC Lowers Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

TD Private Client Wealth LLC decreased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 18.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 27,959 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,366 shares during the quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,515,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC cut Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.60.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $120.26 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $85.01 and a one year high of $142.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $193.96 billion, a PE ratio of 15.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $130.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.81.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.