Foundations Investment Advisors LLC Buys 10,565 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 17.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 71,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,565 shares during the quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $9,045,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE:MS opened at $135.58 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $139.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $129.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $115.04.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.