Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Raises Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 102.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,704 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 111.0% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Abound Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 58.5% in the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $155.10 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The stock has a market cap of $247.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.57, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50-day moving average of $151.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.07. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $163.98.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The company’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a $1.00 dividend. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $154.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total value of $3,576,759.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 128,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,988,234.22. The trade was a 16.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. 0.19% 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.