Aprio Wealth Management LLC Has $257,000 Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Rating) by 16.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 425 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $257,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 68.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,416,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,455,083,000 after purchasing an additional 7,514,505 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth about $451,711,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 123.3% in the third quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 3,183,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $251,546,000 after purchasing an additional 1,757,682 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 17.8% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,389,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $790,232,000 after acquiring an additional 1,566,606 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 152.3% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 2,500,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $197,539,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509,589 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.48% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 3.3 %

NYSE:MS opened at $84.18 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $95.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $88.87. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $72.05 and a 52-week high of $100.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $141.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.06. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 16.73%. The firm had revenue of $12.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.16 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.19 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.775 per share. This represents a $3.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 50.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 5,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total transaction of $494,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 118,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,500,126. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 44,910 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.05, for a total transaction of $4,358,515.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 348,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,824,933.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 5,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total transaction of $494,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 118,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,500,126. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 341,699 shares of company stock worth $33,143,046. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MS. Barclays boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 18th. Credit Suisse Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.28.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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Morgan Stanley operates as a global financial services company. The firm provides investment banking products and services to its clients and customers including corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. It operates through the following segments: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management.