Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Aviva PLC

Aviva PLC cut its position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 315,024 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 36,448 shares during the period. Aviva PLC owned approximately 0.17% of Moody's worth $149,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Moody's in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 101.9% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 109 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total transaction of $192,178.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,092,537.92. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,258 shares of company stock worth $610,936. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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Moody's Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded down $18.27 during trading on Thursday, reaching $420.32. 598,951 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 767,566. The firm has a market cap of $75.61 billion, a PE ratio of 37.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. 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 quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $473.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $476.45.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The business 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Moody's in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $523.43.

Moody's 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.