Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Position Lessened by Boston Financial Mangement LLC

Boston Financial Mangement LLC lowered its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 48,996 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,703 shares during the quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $23,193,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its stake 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 buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,390,984.84. This trade 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 is available at this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.1 %

MCO stock opened at $519.18 on Thursday. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $360.05 and a twelve month 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 company has a market cap of $94.08 billion, a PE ratio of 46.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.31. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $486.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $480.07.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $528.77.

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.