Foster & Motley Inc. Has $1.85 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Foster & Motley Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 28.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,926 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,847,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. M&R Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $188,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Summit Global Investments grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.0% during the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 2,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Corton Capital Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the third quarter. Corton Capital Inc. now owns 6,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $541,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Excalibur Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.0% during the third quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 13,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,104,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 target price (down from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Cfra upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.07.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total value of $4,396,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,172,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 302,355 shares of company stock valued at $26,753,102. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of MS opened at $92.74 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $89.02 and a 200 day moving average of $85.10. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $95.57. The firm has a market cap of $150.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 61.93%.

About Morgan Stanley

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.