Rakuten Securities Inc. Boosts Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 138.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $31,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% during the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. HSBC upgraded 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. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction 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 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $132.31 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $74.55 and a 12-month high of $133.99. The company has a market cap of $213.16 billion, a PE ratio of 20.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $109.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $102.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio 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.