LGT Capital Partners LTD. Has $63.59 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

LGT Capital Partners LTD. decreased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 23.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm 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 biggest holding. LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $63,594,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 474.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,203,000 after buying an additional 17,454 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,159,000 after buying an additional 36,120 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $597,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,152,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $120,182,000 after buying an additional 16,350 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.2 %

MS opened at $119.12 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $85.01 and a 1-year 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 stock has a market capitalization of $192.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a 50 day moving average of $132.56 and a 200-day moving average of $121.97.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC cut Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

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.