Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc reduced its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,689 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,347 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $32,042,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 80.6% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $471.15 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $84.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $446.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $471.60. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two 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.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. Analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.47%.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,445,682. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,111 shares of company stock worth $520,603. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MCO. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Moody’s from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Moody’s from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Moody’s from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered 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 issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $515.87.

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.