Mizuho Securities USA LLC Acquires 36,790 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 45.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 117,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,790 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $14,781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Sciencast Management LP purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $3,046,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $136,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. now owns 6,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Antonelli Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $301,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 2,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $120.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $193.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.15, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $130.55 and its 200 day moving average is $122.81. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $85.01 and a 12 month high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

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.