Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. Has $630,000 Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm 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 filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Peoples Bank KS bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on MS shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $119.17 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $130.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $123.47. 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 52-week low of $85.01 and a 52-week high of $142.03. The company has a market capitalization of $192.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

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.