Foundations Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 8,610 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 16.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 61,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,610 shares during the quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $6,398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,383,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the first quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 16,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,534,000 after buying an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 20.7% in the first quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 1,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 10.1% in the first quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 1,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.2% in the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 7,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $698,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $118.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $192.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.55, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. 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 has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $121.45. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $104.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.75.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MS. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 18th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,326. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley 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.