Convergence Financial LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Convergence Financial LLC lowered its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 441 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 25 shares during the period. Convergence Financial LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $73,000. National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 415,275 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $196,579,000 after acquiring an additional 70,599 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,096,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 4,481 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,121,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 393.0% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 277,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $131,142,000 after acquiring an additional 220,845 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $493.65 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $88.86 billion, a PE ratio of 43.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $488.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $481.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.36%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total transaction of $146,738.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,321,046.80. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $528.77.

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.