Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Has $124.57 Million Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 263,147 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,330 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $124,566,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,941,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $23,646,000. Prudential PLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 167.7% in the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 31,966 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,132,000 after buying an additional 20,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantum Capital Management LLC NJ boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Quantum Capital Management LLC NJ now owns 68,359 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,359,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.2 %

Moody’s stock opened at $397.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $480.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $478.24. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.94 dividend. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total value of $192,178.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,092,537.92. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 1,258 shares of company stock valued at $610,936 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup started coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price target for the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $523.43.

Moody’s 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.