Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Walter Public Investments Inc.

Walter Public Investments Inc. cut its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 41,872 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,333 shares during the period. Moody’s makes up 3.5% of Walter Public Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Walter Public Investments Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $19,821,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MCO. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 12.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,123,294,000 after purchasing an additional 723,226 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Moody’s by 32.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $985,115,000 after acquiring an additional 502,891 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 22.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,107,344,000 after acquiring an additional 430,878 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 13.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,708,851,000 after acquiring an additional 416,535 shares during the period. Finally, Canoe Financial LP grew its holdings in Moody’s by 510.8% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 422,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $200,058,000 after acquiring an additional 353,431 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $498.05 on Thursday. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $89.65 billion, a PE ratio of 44.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $488.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $481.79.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $528.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.