Foster & Motley Inc. Has $1.58 Million Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Foster & Motley Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 928 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,577,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 2,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 3,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.3% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 48,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,531 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.8% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 125,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,770,000 after purchasing an additional 14,175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AIA Group Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 96.6% in the 1st quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 33,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,164,000 after buying an additional 16,507 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 11.6 %

MS stock opened at $131.43 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $213.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.34. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $73.96 and a twelve month high of $133.52. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $108.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 56.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on MS shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. HSBC upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.