Toronto Dominion Bank Has $53.86 Million Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Toronto Dominion Bank reduced its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 67.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 572,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,183,652 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $53,863,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 17,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,639,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 373,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,846,000 after buying an additional 27,845 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Evercore Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,274,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $118,857,000 after acquiring an additional 48,812 shares during the period. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on MS shares. Citigroup upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Cfra raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $797,775.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,266,848.03. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 258,954 shares of company stock valued at $27,239,058 in the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS traded up $0.63 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $104.19. 6,113,053 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,658,935. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $109.11. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $99.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.38.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 10.17%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 67.40%.

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.