Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Troy Asset Management Ltd

Troy Asset Management Ltd cut its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 180,241 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,479 shares during the quarter. Moody’s accounts for about 2.9% of Troy Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Troy Asset Management Ltd owned about 0.10% of Moody’s worth $85,321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $485,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Moody’s by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,981,000 after buying an additional 4,544 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in Moody’s by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,861,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in Moody’s by 11.2% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 62,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,858,000 after buying an additional 6,340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,777,000 after acquiring an additional 3,510 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were 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 $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE MCO opened at $461.09 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $82.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.91, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $485.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $480.03.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. Equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a $0.94 dividend. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer raised 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. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $527.00.

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.