Cim Investment Management Inc. Buys 7,746 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Cim Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 99.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,746 shares during the period. Cim Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,068,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,234,883,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth about $343,236,000. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 23.4% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,357,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,318,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,776,544 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 319.7% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,092,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $294,727,000 after buying an additional 1,593,774 shares during the period. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 99.9% during the 1st quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 3,111,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $363,075,000 after purchasing an additional 1,555,015 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.0%

MS stock opened at $178.57 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $283.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.32, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.22. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.33 and a 52-week high of $181.98. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $164.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $151.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. The business had revenue of $17.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.40%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $198.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, November 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.38.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Morgan Stanley

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.