Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 20.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,339,270 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 344,426 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $633,970,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP lifted 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 worth $485,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 4,544 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,861,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares during 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 buying an additional 6,340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 32.5% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $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 Stock Performance

MCO opened at $397.70 on Tuesday. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $360.05 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The stock has a market cap of $71.54 billion, a PE ratio of 35.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The business’s 50 day moving average is $480.18 and its 200-day moving average is $478.24. 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. On average, 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $523.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total value of $138,932.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,601,631.48. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,258 shares of company stock worth $610,936. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.