Triple Frond Partners LLC Sells 3,800 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Triple Frond Partners LLC decreased its stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 104,587 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,800 shares during the quarter. Moody's accounts for about 6.4% of Triple Frond Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Triple Frond Partners LLC owned 0.06% of Moody's worth $49,508,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 272.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Moody's during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Moody's during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of Moody's stock traded down $7.89 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $461.09. 535,573 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 744,111. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $485.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $480.00. The stock 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 fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93.

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Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Moody's had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. This is a boost from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody'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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,390,984.84. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MCO. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Moody's from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price target on the stock. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $527.00.

Moody's 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.