Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Position Lessened by Farther Finance Advisors LLC

Farther Finance Advisors LLC lowered its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 56 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $752,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Avitas Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,327,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $213,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,313,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 746 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adero Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 660 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $527.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 in the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO opened at $446.67 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $80.35 billion, a PE ratio of 39.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $486.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $481.42. 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 data 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 the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

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.