Select Equity Group L.P. Sells 15,595 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Select Equity Group L.P. lowered its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 24.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,845 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 15,595 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $23,122,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Accurate Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 668 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,503 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $711,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 3,212 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $232,000. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,060,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Moody’s from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Moody’s from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Moody’s from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Moody’s from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $515.87.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,445,682. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 1,111 shares of company stock valued at $520,603 over the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO opened at $489.15 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $449.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $472.33. The company has a market capitalization of $88.00 billion, a PE ratio of 43.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $378.71 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.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.47%.

About Moody’s

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.