Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Bought by Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 429 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,734,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 6.5 %

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

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,326. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.