Foster & Motley Inc. Sells 7,926 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Foster & Motley Inc. lowered its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 28.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm 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 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. RWA Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $319,000. Telemus Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 24.8% during the fourth quarter. Telemus Capital LLC now owns 80,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,501,000 after purchasing an additional 16,002 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,254,000 after purchasing an additional 2,528 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 15,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $914,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,842.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total value of $879,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 313,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,562,040.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 302,355 shares of company stock worth $26,753,102 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MS. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.07.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $92.74 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $150.85 billion, a PE ratio of 16.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The company 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%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.70 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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