Mizuho Securities USA LLC Sells 15,702 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 16.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,702 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its stake 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 worth $122,581,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116,058 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at about $87,558,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,850,000. Rokos Capital Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,208,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,683,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $131.69 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.68. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $76.33 and a 1 year high of $135.51. The company has a market cap of $212.16 billion, a PE ratio of 20.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.34.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.94.

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.