Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Has $4.14 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

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

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,621,140,000 after acquiring an additional 269,633 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,833,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,870,683,000 after buying an additional 428,956 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,019,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,385,396,000 after acquiring an additional 47,699 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,454,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,263,000 after purchasing an additional 385,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $118.08 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $130.92 and a 200-day moving average of $122.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $85.01 and a twelve month high of $142.03. The firm has a market cap of $190.45 billion, a PE ratio of 14.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on MS. HSBC lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

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.