Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd Reduces Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 50.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 10,091 shares during the quarter. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $4,777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 272.2% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,390,984.84. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $527.00.

Moody’s Stock Up 2.2 %

MCO opened at $469.48 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $84.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.66, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. 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 Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $531.93. The business’s fifty day moving average is $485.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $480.31.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. Analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal 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%.

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.