During autumn many of the North European analyst firms, banks and holding companies have upgraded their ratings and price targets on Nokia (NYSE:NOK, HEL:NOK1V). However, Nokia is still a high risk stock and there are many analyst firms globally which have reiterated their negative or neutral rating. Some of the latest Nokia recommendations can be seen below
| Analyst Firm | Rating * (Previous) |
Target Price (Previous) |
Date (Previous) |
| Goldman Sachs | Sell (Sell) |
1.70€ (1.30€) |
19th Oct (3rd Aug) |
| Morgan Stanley | Underweight (n/a) |
1.50€ (n/a) |
15th Jun (n/a) |
| Barclays | Equal-Weight (Equal-Weight) |
2.15€ (2.15€) |
19th Oct (6th Sep) |
| Credit Suisse | Underperform (Underperform) |
1.85€ (1.60€) |
19th Oct (1st Oct) |
| *) Ratings Definitions can be found from here | |||
At first look, there seems to be nothing wrong with the values. After all, consensus recommendation of the Nokia stock is “hold” in the U.S. However, when you go to Nasdaq and look at the biggest institutional holders of Nokia and their Q3 transactions, you might get surprised.
Despite of the negative and neutral recommendations, Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) and Barclays Capital (NYSE: ADR) have all increased their Nokia holdings by millions or even tens of millions shares.
In the beginning of Q3/2012, Morgan Stanley held 4 million Nokia shares. By the end of the quarter the company had bought 28 million shares, which indicates an increase of 700 %. At the same time, the company had climbed to 4th biggest institutional owner of Nokia. Goldman Sachs increased its holdings on a same time period by 90 %. By the end of the Q3/2012 it had become the biggest institutional owner of Nokia with an amount of 116 million shares, which is an increase of 55 million shares. Barclays Capital and Credit Suisse had approximately doubled their holdings during Q3/2012, reaching the positions 9 and 10 respectively in the biggest share holders list.
| Analyst Firm | Nth Biggest Owner | Shares Q2 (End) | Shares Q3 (End) | Change (Shares) | Change (%) |
| Goldman Sachs | 1st | 61,000,000 | 116,000,000 | +55,000,000 | +90 |
| Morgan Stanley | 4th | 4,000,000 | 32,000,000 | +28,000,000 | +700 |
| Barclays Capital | 9th | 3,300,000 | 7,200,000 | +3,300,000 | +115 |
| Credit Suisse | 10th | 3,500,000 | 6,700,000 | +3,500,000 | +94 |
Sources: Jacob Steinberg, Arvopaperi, Seeking Alpha and Nasdaq
