Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Stake Decreased by Fox Run Management L.L.C.

Fox Run Management L.L.C. trimmed its stake in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 62.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 869 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,466 shares during the quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Moody's by 272.2% in 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 during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody's Stock Down 1.7 %

Moody's stock traded down $7.89 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $461.09. 535,573 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 744,111. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $485.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $480.00. The firm has a market cap of $82.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. Moody's Co. has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93.

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Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,390,984.84. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MCO. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Moody's from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Moody's from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $527.00.

Moody's Company 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.