Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $17.42 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 167,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,043 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $17,415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. HSBC upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.94.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $134.69 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $116.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.30. The stock has a market cap of $216.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.50, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $76.33 and a fifty-two week high of $135.67.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.32%.

Morgan Stanley 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.