Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 263,147 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,330 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.15% of Moody’s worth $124,566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 101.9% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $397.70 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The company’s fifty day moving average is $480.18 and its 200-day moving average is $478.24. The firm has a market cap of $71.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Equities analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MCO. Barclays dropped their price objective on Moody’s from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $523.43.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total transaction of $138,932.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $30,601,631.48. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,258 shares of company stock worth $610,936. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.