Renaissance Technologies LLC Has $58.89 Million Holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Renaissance Technologies LLC decreased its holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 124,400 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 16,300 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.07% of Moody's worth $58,887,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in Moody's by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 98,880 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $46,844,000 after purchasing an additional 21,030 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 72,510 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $34,324,000 after acquiring an additional 2,399 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC grew its stake in Moody's by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 7,794 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,689,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 44,050 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $20,868,000 after acquiring an additional 3,968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Garrison Point Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter valued at about $237,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total transaction of $192,178.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,824 shares in the company, valued at $29,092,537.92. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,258 shares of company stock worth $610,936. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Moody's from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moody's in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $565.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moody's has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $524.86.

Moody's Stock Performance

MCO traded up $1.47 on Tuesday, reaching $439.14. The stock had a trading volume of 345,476 shares, compared to its average volume of 770,782. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The business's 50-day moving average price is $470.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $475.49. The company has a market cap of $79.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. Moody's Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody's had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody's's 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.