Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Bought by Foundations Investment Advisors LLC

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Rating) by 128.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,047 shares during the quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 68.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,416,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,455,083,000 after acquiring an additional 7,514,505 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 17.8% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,389,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $790,232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566,606 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.7% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,955,509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $757,219,000 after purchasing an additional 166,221 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.0% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,074,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $618,303,000 after purchasing an additional 67,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 9.6% in the second quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 6,163,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $468,806,000 after purchasing an additional 539,483 shares during the last quarter. 83.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 44,910 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.05, for a total value of $4,358,515.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 348,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,824,933.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 24,556 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.23, for a total transaction of $2,412,135.88. Following the sale, the insider now owns 190,440 shares in the company, valued at $18,706,921.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 44,910 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.05, for a total value of $4,358,515.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 348,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,824,933.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 341,699 shares of company stock valued at $33,143,046. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MS. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 18th. UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 9th. Barclays boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Cfra raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.28.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE MS traded down $2.83 on Friday, hitting $84.18. The company had a trading volume of 19,935,825 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,134,612. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $72.05 and a 12-month high of $100.99. The business has a 50 day moving average of $95.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.71, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $12.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.16 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 16.73%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 31st were issued a $0.775 dividend. This represents a $3.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.49%.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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Morgan Stanley operates as a global financial services company. The firm provides investment banking products and services to its clients and customers including corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. It operates through the following segments: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management.