Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Picton Mahoney Asset Management

Picton Mahoney Asset Management cut its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,120 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 690 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,423,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 272.2% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,390,984.84. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 in the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $446.67 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $80.35 billion, a PE ratio of 39.63, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $486.63 and a 200 day moving average of $481.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The company 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. One research 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $527.00.

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.