Foundations Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 15.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 264,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 34,524 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $37,310,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 34.3% during the 1st quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,785,000 after buying an additional 6,092 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth about $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 55.9% during the first quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,265,000 after purchasing an additional 117,615 shares during the last quarter. Tlwm lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the first quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,617,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $362,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $163.75 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $171.77. The company has a market cap of $260.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $159.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $144.79.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. The business had revenue of $17.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. The business’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. This represents a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.