LGT Capital Partners LTD. Sells 14,677 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

LGT Capital Partners LTD. lowered its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 216,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,677 shares during the period. LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $20,196,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $287,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 11,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after acquiring an additional 761 shares during the period. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 75,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,067,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 12,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,177,000 after purchasing an additional 3,066 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $236,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $94.16 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $95.57. The company has a 50 day moving average of $87.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The company has a market cap of $153.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $12.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.77 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 9.49%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 30th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 65.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 price target (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $109.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.45.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.56, for a total value of $584,920.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 97,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,158,297.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.56, for a total transaction of $584,920.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 97,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,158,297.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total transaction of $841,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 323,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,215,213.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 208,155 shares of company stock worth $18,149,314 over the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.