Sentry Investment Management LLC Has $310,000 Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Sentry Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 14.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 654 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 107 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 2.9% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 13,318 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,306,000 after acquiring an additional 1,990 shares during the last quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $225,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 70,925 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,660,000 after purchasing an additional 5,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smith Group Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter worth $312,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.2 %

MCO opened at $501.77 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $487.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $481.68.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. StockNews.com lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $528.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.