Ossiam Sells 3,952 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Ossiam cut its holdings in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 43.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,123 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,952 shares during the period. Ossiam's holdings in Moody's were worth $2,425,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 13,916 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,587,000 after buying an additional 3,331 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Moody's by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 796,119 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $376,869,000 after acquiring an additional 65,257 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Moody's by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 447,061 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $211,625,000 after buying an additional 29,003 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 722 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $342,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, Freedom Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,425 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $675,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,392 shares of company stock valued at $659,535. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Moody's from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Mizuho started coverage on Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America assumed coverage on Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.87.

Moody's Stock Performance

MCO traded down $0.72 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $438.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 691,284 shares, compared to its average volume of 908,697. Moody's Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market cap of $78.95 billion, a PE ratio of 38.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The company's 50-day moving average is $456.51 and its 200-day moving average is $473.22.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody's had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $0.94 dividend. 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 0.86%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.36%.

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.