CX Institutional Grows Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

CX Institutional boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the period. CX Institutional’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.3% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,681,778,000 after purchasing an additional 3,981,528 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 600.8% during the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,301,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,581,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116,058 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at $87,558,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth $85,535,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 433.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 779,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,392,000 after purchasing an additional 633,319 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $119.52 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $121.45. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $102.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.96. The company has a market capitalization of $194.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. HSBC upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Oppenheimer cut Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.06.

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.