Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Saturna Capital Corp

Saturna Capital Corp decreased its holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 11.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,015 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 674 shares during the quarter. Saturna Capital Corp's holdings in Moody's were worth $2,374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in Moody's by 566.7% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 272.2% during 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 period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in shares of Moody's in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Moody's stock opened at $444.11 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Moody's Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The business has a 50-day moving average of $488.62 and a 200-day moving average of $482.26. The company has a market capitalization of $79.89 billion, a PE ratio of 39.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

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

Moody's Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. This is an increase from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is 33.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on MCO. Oppenheimer upped their price target 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 target price on shares of Moody's from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, 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 research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $528.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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.

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