Fmr LLC Sells 478,499 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Fmr LLC cut its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,102,537 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 478,499 shares during the period. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,888,758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,696,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,956,684,000 after acquiring an additional 63,820 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,799 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,738,645,000 after purchasing an additional 68,627 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $988,750,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Moody’s by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,537,331 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $727,726,000 after acquiring an additional 53,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 73.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,131,656 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $534,255,000 after purchasing an additional 479,599 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Trading Down 9.2 %

Shares of MCO stock opened at $401.74 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $482.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $478.93. The firm has a market cap of $72.27 billion, a PE ratio of 35.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 33.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,601,631.48. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 1,258 shares of company stock worth $610,936 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on MCO. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho started coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley lifted 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, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $523.43.

About Moody’s

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.