Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC

OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 71.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,402 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 6,103 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $1,137,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Carson Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 741 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Avitas Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,327,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $213,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $777,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 746 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MCO. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Moody's from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $515.87.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total transaction of $181,687.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,690 shares in the company, valued at $27,445,682. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 1,392 shares of company stock worth $659,535 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody's Stock Performance

MCO traded up $8.41 on Tuesday, hitting $448.19. 384,494 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 778,106. The firm has a market cap of $80.63 billion, a PE ratio of 39.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $453.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $472.78. Moody's Co. has a twelve month low of $360.05 and a twelve month high of $531.93. 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 (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.47%.

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.