Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by TD Private Client Wealth LLC

TD Private Client Wealth LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 88.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 351 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,582 shares during the quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $166,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Moody's by 272.2% during the 3rd 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 period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in Moody's in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of Moody's stock traded down $7.89 on Friday, hitting $461.09. 535,573 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 744,111. Moody's Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $82.95 billion, a PE ratio of 40.91, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $485.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $480.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

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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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. Equities research analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. This is a positive change from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $527.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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.