Fmr LLC Decreases Position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

FMR LLC cut its holdings in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,102,537 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 478,499 shares during the quarter. FMR LLC owned approximately 3.37% of Moody's worth $2,888,758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its position in Moody's by 164.1% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 1,436 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,676 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $307,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,176 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $558,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Moody's by 388.0% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 122 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Moody's by 78.2% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 12,145 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,764,000 after purchasing an additional 5,331 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total transaction of $138,932.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,601,631.48. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 1,258 shares of company stock valued at $610,936 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO traded up $3.60 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $426.63. 436,743 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 769,823. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The business's fifty day moving average price is $472.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $476.05. The company has a market cap of $76.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.57, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. Moody's Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $531.93.

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

Moody's Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were 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 was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on MCO. StockNews.com lowered Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Moody's from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $524.86.

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.