Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by LGT Capital Partners LTD.

LGT Capital Partners LTD. cut its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 20.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 326,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 82,175 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for 2.0% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $46,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 16,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,916,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 25.1% during the first quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $910,000 after purchasing an additional 1,565 shares during the last quarter. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the first quarter. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.2% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 74,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,701,000 after purchasing an additional 2,295 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,493,199.24. This trade represents a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $163.75 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $171.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $260.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $144.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. The firm had revenue of $17.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.The business’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 41.03%.

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.