Mizuho Securities USA LLC Boosts Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 45.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 117,571 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 36,790 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $14,781,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $881,493,000 after acquiring an additional 3,369,520 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $324,118,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 382.4% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $166,555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266,600 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 26,142.5% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,055,210 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $132,661,000 after buying an additional 1,051,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $89,761,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 2.4 %

NYSE MS traded down $3.03 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $122.17. 5,081,832 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,225,656. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $85.01 and a 1 year high of $142.03. The stock has a market cap of $197.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $130.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $123.51.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $132.33.

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.