Foster & Motley Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Foster & Motley Inc. decreased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,052 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,770,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC now owns 2,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mason & Associates Inc grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 3,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. HSBC cut Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.0 %

MS opened at $140.05 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $141.48. The business has a 50-day moving average of $129.80 and a 200-day moving average of $115.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $225.63 billion, a PE ratio of 17.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, 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 value 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 approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.