Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Stake Cut by Troy Asset Management Ltd

Troy Asset Management Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 180,241 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,479 shares during the period. Moody’s accounts for approximately 2.9% of Troy Asset Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Troy Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $85,321,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Moody’s by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $485,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,981,000 after buying an additional 4,544 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,861,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 11.2% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 62,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,858,000 after acquiring an additional 6,340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,777,000 after acquiring an additional 3,510 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.7 %

Moody’s stock opened at $461.09 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $485.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $480.03. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.95 billion, a PE ratio of 40.91, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. 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 (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. Equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on MCO shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $527.00.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,321,046.80. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Company Profile

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.