Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Zions Bancorporation N.A.

Zions Bancorporation N.A. cut its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 49.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 99 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 95 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $47,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter worth about $273,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 10.7% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 722 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 31.9% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,051 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $499,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the period. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,880 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,367,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the 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 directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of MCO opened at $469.44 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $360.05 and a 52-week high of $531.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $485.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $480.18. The company has a market capitalization of $84.45 billion, a PE ratio of 41.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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 $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MCO. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price 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. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $527.00.

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.