Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Kintegral Advisory LLC

Kintegral Advisory LLC trimmed its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,836 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 738 shares during the quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $7,496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 272.2% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MCO. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on 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 Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $528.77.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO stock opened at $499.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $487.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $480.70. 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.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Equities research analysts expect 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 will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.