Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Trims Stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC cut its position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,538 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 616 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $3,564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 566.7% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Moody's by 272.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody's in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in Moody's in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody's Stock Down 2.3 %

NYSE MCO traded down $12.00 during trading on Friday, hitting $499.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,348,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 754,611. Moody's Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $89.93 billion, a PE ratio of 44.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 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 business's 50 day simple moving average is $486.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $480.29.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. This is an increase from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the 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 owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. 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 report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Moody's from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Moody's from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $528.77.

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.