Short Interest in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Expands By 43.5%

Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,740,000 shares, a growth of 43.5% from the February 13th total of 1,910,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 740,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO traded down $0.74 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $459.57. 778,097 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 705,744. The company's 50 day moving average is $485.69 and its 200 day moving average is $480.79. Moody's has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.67 billion, a PE ratio of 40.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

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

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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 dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is 33.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,321,046.80. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Moody's

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho assumed 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 on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $527.00.

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.