Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Increases Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 102.6%, owning 58,655 shares valued at approximately $8.26 million after purchasing an additional 29,704 shares.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Morgan Stanley, with Citigroup increasing its target from $130 to $155 and Wells Fargo lifting it from $145 to $165.
• Morgan Stanley announced a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $4.00, which represents a 7.5% increase from the previous dividend amount.

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 102.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,655 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 29,704 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,262,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 34.3% in the 1st quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,785,000 after purchasing an additional 6,092 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 55.9% in the 1st quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $38,265,000 after purchasing an additional 117,615 shares during the last quarter. Tlwm increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,617,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.0% in the 1st quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 62,469 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,288,000 after purchasing an additional 26,763 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $154.85.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $155.10 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $163.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization 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's fifty day moving average is $151.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.07.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. Morgan Stanley's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $41,480,422.50. This trade represents a 12.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total transaction of $2,806,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 119,239 shares in the company, valued at $16,729,231.70. The trade was a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

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.

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