Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Position Trimmed by LGT Capital Partners LTD.

LGT Capital Partners LTD. decreased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 23.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 505,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 157,700 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley comprises about 2.4% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $63,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $64,392,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 4,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $538,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the period. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $3,822,000. Banco Santander S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 217.1% during the fourth quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 288,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,229,000 after acquiring an additional 197,281 shares during the period. Finally, RKL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $222,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $119.12 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $85.01 and a twelve month high of $142.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company has a market capitalization of $192.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.00, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $132.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $121.97.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

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.