Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Triple Frond Partners LLC

Triple Frond Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 104,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,800 shares during the period. Moody’s makes up approximately 6.4% of Triple Frond Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Triple Frond Partners LLC owned 0.06% of Moody’s worth $49,508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Larson Financial Group LLC grew 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 period. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,321,046.80. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. Citigroup assumed coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho assumed coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $527.00.

Moody’s Stock Up 2.2 %

MCO stock opened at $469.48 on Tuesday. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $531.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.66, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $485.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $480.31. 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 released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. As a group, sell-side 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 given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. 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.