Neuberger Berman Group LLC Sells 20,057 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Neuberger Berman Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 745,992 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 20,057 shares during the quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC owned about 0.41% of Moody's worth $353,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MCO. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Moody's in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody's by 101.9% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 109 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MCO. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 target price for the company. Citigroup started coverage on Moody's in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Moody's from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $524.86.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 1,258 shares of company stock worth $610,936 over the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moody's Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO traded up $9.37 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $437.80. 743,256 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 772,419. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $471.20 and a 200 day moving average of $475.73. Moody's Co. has a twelve month low of $360.05 and a twelve month high of $531.93. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $78.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. On average, analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The company 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 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 dividend yield of 0.86%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.