Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 11,712 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Prudential Financial Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 12.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 80,505 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11,712 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $38,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,123,294,000 after acquiring an additional 723,226 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 92,060.2% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 612,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $290,112,000 after purchasing an additional 612,200 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 73.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,131,656 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $534,255,000 after purchasing an additional 479,599 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,708,851,000 after buying an additional 416,535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP grew its stake in Moody’s by 510.8% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 422,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $200,058,000 after buying an additional 353,431 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of MCO opened at $477.52 on Wednesday. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $486.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $480.33. The firm has a market cap of $85.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. On average, analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 33.36%.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total value of $133,435.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,390,984.84. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 in the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.