Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by International Assets Investment Management LLC

International Assets Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 99.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,090 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 723,609 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in Moody's by 11.2% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 62,913 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $29,858,000 after buying an additional 6,340 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 567.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 80,781 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $38,338,000 after acquiring an additional 68,674 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,107,344,000 after acquiring an additional 430,878 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Moody's during the third quarter worth about $2,792,000. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its position in shares of Moody's by 106.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 5,728 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,718,000 after buying an additional 2,953 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MCO. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $521.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Moody's from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup began coverage on Moody's in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $506.14.

Moody's Stock Down 4.2 %

Shares of MCO stock traded down $19.63 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $452.47. 1,131,549 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 566,934. Moody's Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $503.95. The business's fifty day moving average is $479.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $469.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.30.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The company's revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.43 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Moody's Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,243 shares of company stock worth $1,045,326. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.