Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $976,000 after purchasing an additional 1,158 shares during the period. Carlson Capital L P bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth about $3,719,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 143.6% during the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 8,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $830,000 after buying an additional 5,194 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at approximately $122,000. Finally, LGT Group Foundation raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 26.3% in the first quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 19,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,807,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $0.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $104.19. 6,596,944 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,658,917. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $99.50 and a 200 day moving average of $93.17. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $109.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. The stock has a market cap of $169.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.38.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Cfra lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,326. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 258,954 shares of company stock valued at $27,239,058. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.