CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. Purchases Shares of 1,788 Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $729,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. Breakthru Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $357,000. Breed s Hill Capital LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 156.8% in the 4th quarter. Breed s Hill Capital LLC now owns 5,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $659,000 after buying an additional 3,199 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 44.9% during the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 30,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,865,000 after purchasing an additional 9,527 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RB Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $4,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 335,765 shares in the company, valued at $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total transaction of $1,124,092.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This trade represents a 4.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $126.14 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $116.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.52. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $90.94 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 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 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.46.

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.