Curbstone Financial Management Corp Trims Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Curbstone Financial Management Corp trimmed its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MS. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on 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. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $136.63 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.12 billion, a PE ratio of 17.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $129.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $115.04. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $139.04. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.