Angeles Investment Advisors LLC Sells 51 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Angeles Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 690 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 51 shares during the period. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $459.73 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The firm has a market cap of $82.70 billion, a PE ratio of 40.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $485.57 and its 200-day moving average is $480.42.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. Sell-side 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total transaction of $146,738.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,321,046.80. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $527.00.

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.