Foundations Investment Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Key Points

• Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 220.2%, reaching a total value of approximately $26.88 million as of the latest 13F filing.
• Multiple institutional investors have significantly increased their stakes in Morgan Stanley, with notable growth from GAMMA Investing LLC at 12,318.0% and Capital Research Global Investors by 44.8% in recent quarters.
• Analyzing analyst forecasts, Morgan Stanley has an average price target of $138.25 with a majority "hold" rating, while recent earnings surpassed expectations with an EPS of $2.13.

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 220.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 230,348 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 158,403 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $26,875,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,740,051,000 after purchasing an additional 6,744,333 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12,318.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,750,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $320,941,000 after acquiring an additional 2,728,693 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,213,599,000 after acquiring an additional 2,725,335 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.8% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,282,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $915,731,000 after acquiring an additional 2,453,470 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,403,197 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,685,050,000 after acquiring an additional 2,233,589 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. The trade was a 6.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the sale, the insider owned 294,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $41,480,422.50. The trade was a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 188,949 shares of company stock worth $25,737,084 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 price target (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.4%

MS stock traded down $0.55 during trading on Monday, hitting $142.46. The company had a trading volume of 3,729,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,602,143. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.13, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $90.94 and a 52-week high of $145.16. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $135.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $127.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.33%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.90%.

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.