Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Milestones Administradora de Recursos Ltda.

Milestones Administradora de Recursos Ltda. lowered its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 40.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,680 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,800 shares during the period. Moody’s comprises about 0.6% of Milestones Administradora de Recursos Ltda.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Milestones Administradora de Recursos Ltda.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fielder Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $601,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Moody’s by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,395 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,234,000 after acquiring an additional 1,288 shares during the period. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 56.0% in the 4th quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd now owns 6,747 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,194,000 after purchasing an additional 2,421 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 92,060.2% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 612,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $290,112,000 after purchasing an additional 612,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 65,572 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,040,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $493.65 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $88.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. 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 stock has a fifty 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 results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during 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%. Research analysts anticipate 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 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 is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.36%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,390,984.84. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $528.77.

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.