Cinctive Capital Management LP Makes New $7.62 Million Investment in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Cinctive Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 60,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,623,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.73.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $115.82 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $128.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $124.23. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $85.01 and a twelve month high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its 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. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal 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 yield of 3.19%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.