Aprio Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 14.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 446 shares during the quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $333,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CGC Financial Services LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 123.2% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, Union Savings Bank increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 62.5% in the fourth quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MS. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. TheStreet raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.30.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $1,009,008.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $96.16 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $103.25. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $156.28 billion, a PE ratio of 17.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.70 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.83 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.93%.

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.