Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Sells 1,577 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,577 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,137,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MS shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $118.08 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $190.45 billion, a PE ratio of 14.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $85.01 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $130.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $122.73.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

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.