Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Sells 10,390 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 25.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,390 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 17,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,639,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.2% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 18,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,543,000 after buying an additional 580 shares during the period. Calamos Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the third quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $849,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Cfra upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. TheStreet upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.30.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total value of $2,324,049.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,009,143.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $8,730,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at $30,555,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock traded up $0.99 on Friday, hitting $93.64. 5,043,459 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,976,032. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $95.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $90.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.32 billion, a PE ratio of 17.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.70 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.93%.

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.