Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 12,084 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Natixis Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 158,614 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 12,084 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Moody's worth $75,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Moody's by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,001 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,560 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $31,981,000 after acquiring an additional 4,544 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in Moody's by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $8,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in Moody's by 11.2% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 62,913 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $29,858,000 after purchasing an additional 6,340 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its position in shares of Moody's by 32.5% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,777,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Moody's in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One equities 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, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $527.00.

Moody's Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE MCO traded down $0.74 during trading on Thursday, reaching $459.57. 778,074 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 705,744. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Moody's Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $485.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $480.79. The firm 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.94 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 0.82%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is 33.36%.

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.