Invesco Ltd. Reduces Stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Invesco Ltd. cut its stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 16.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,029,564 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 198,849 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 0.57% of Moody's worth $487,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter worth approximately $988,750,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Moody's by 92,060.2% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 612,865 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $290,112,000 after purchasing an additional 612,200 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 73.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,131,656 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $534,255,000 after acquiring an additional 479,599 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Moody's by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,708,851,000 after purchasing an additional 416,535 shares during the period. Finally, Canoe Financial LP grew its position in Moody's by 510.8% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 422,624 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $200,058,000 after buying an additional 353,431 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total transaction of $138,932.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,601,631.48. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,258 shares of company stock valued at $610,936. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group increased 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 cut their price target on shares of Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Citigroup began coverage on Moody's in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. Finally, William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $524.86.

Moody's Stock Up 2.1 %

MCO traded up $9.02 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $437.45. 107,854 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 769,991. The company's fifty day moving average price is $471.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $475.73. Moody's Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $78.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. As a group, analysts expect that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a $0.94 dividend. This is a positive change from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

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.