Simplicity Wealth LLC Acquires New Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 104.7% during the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.9%

MS stock opened at $129.44 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $90.94 and a 52 week high of $142.03. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $121.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $125.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $207.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.29.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 43.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.23.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares in the company, valued at $11,545,403.20. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 335,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,291,800. This trade represents 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 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.