Apella Capital LLC Invests $316,000 in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Apella Capital LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $316,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,545,403.20. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 335,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $130.53 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $118.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.29. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $90.94 and a 1-year high of $142.03. The firm has a market cap of $209.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.46.

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.