Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Sells 158 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,586 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 158 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,786,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 17,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,639,000 after buying an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 373,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,846,000 after acquiring an additional 27,845 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,274,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $118,857,000 after acquiring an additional 48,812 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 258,954 shares of company stock valued at $27,239,058 in the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock traded up $0.63 on Friday, hitting $104.19. 6,596,944 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,658,917. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $99.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.17. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $109.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.33 billion, a PE ratio of 19.15, 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 (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on MS shares. Cfra increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.18.

Morgan Stanley 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.