Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. Raises Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 10.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,010 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 459 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group lifted 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. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.33.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $119.17 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.01, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $85.01 and a one year high of $142.03. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $130.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $123.47.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.10%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value 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. This trade represents 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 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.