SRN Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

SRN Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 13.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,919 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 304 shares during the quarter. SRN Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $908,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Haverford Trust Co boosted its position in Moody’s by 1.8% during the third quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 1,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,327,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $213,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,313,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Moody’s by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 746 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 over the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE MCO opened at $498.05 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $488.22 and a 200-day moving average of $481.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $89.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 33.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $528.77.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation operates as an integrated risk assessment firm worldwide. It operates in two segments, Moody’s Analytics and Moody’s Investors Services. The Moody’s Analytics segment develops a range of products and services that support the risk management activities of institutional participants in financial markets.