Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Acquires 1,658 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 12.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,658 shares during the period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,397,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 15,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,490,000 after buying an additional 1,757 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $194,000. Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 137,935 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,862,000 after buying an additional 33,918 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 48.6% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,902 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $177,000 after buying an additional 622 shares during the period. Finally, Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 38.2% during the fourth quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 25,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,374,000 after buying an additional 7,037 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total transaction of $106,620.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total transaction of $106,620.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total transaction of $21,012,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at $15,759,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 255,454 shares of company stock valued at $26,870,683 over the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of MS stock traded down $2.72 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $102.09. 12,555,898 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,320,718. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $99.23 and its 200-day moving average is $92.88. The company has a market cap of $165.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $109.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 67.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on MS shares. Barclays boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Cfra boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.18.

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.