Blair William & Co. IL Reduces Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Blair William & Co. IL trimmed its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,070 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,867 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $21,335,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pragma Gestao DE Patrimonio Ltd. purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $12,781,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 154.5% in the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 2,675 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,624 shares during the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 38.1% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 8,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,111,000 after purchasing an additional 2,398 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 48,243 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,837,000 after purchasing an additional 2,272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Moody’s by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 253,886 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $121,649,000 after buying an additional 20,463 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $469.44 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $485.86 and a 200-day moving average of $480.18. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $360.05 and a 52-week high of $531.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.65, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 33.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective 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. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $527.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 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 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.