Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC Sells 1,316 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 30.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,983 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,316 shares during the period. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,412,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,321,046.80. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup began coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $527.00.

Moody’s Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $446.67 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $486.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $481.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.63, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $360.05 and a 52-week high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its 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. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. 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 yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.36%.

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.