Curbstone Financial Management Corp Lowers Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Curbstone Financial Management Corp trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Curbstone Financial Management Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 34.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 115,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,089,000 after buying an additional 29,575 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at about $224,000. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 24.6% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 211,212 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,528,000 after purchasing an additional 41,660 shares during the last quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at approximately $528,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 101,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,906,000 after buying an additional 3,777 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. UBS Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, HSBC lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of MS opened at $136.63 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $220.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.21, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $139.04. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $129.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $115.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS 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 business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

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.