Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Sells 618 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,668 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 618 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $8,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 566.7% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 272.2% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Moody's in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Moody's during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on MCO. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Moody's from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $528.77.

Moody's Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $481.33. 247,191 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 781,821. 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 Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $531.93. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $490.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $482.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.64 billion, a PE ratio of 42.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were 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 approximately $32,321,046.80. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.