Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd Cuts Stock Position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd lessened its holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 50.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,091 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 10,091 shares during the period. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd's holdings in Moody's were worth $4,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Moody's by 272.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MCO. UBS Group raised their target price on Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 target price for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $527.00.

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Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock traded down $7.89 on Friday, hitting $461.09. 535,573 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 744,111. The company's fifty day moving average is $485.56 and its 200 day moving average is $480.00. The company has a market capitalization of $82.95 billion, a PE ratio of 40.91, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Moody's Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $531.93.

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

Moody's Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a positive change from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. 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.