Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 542,549 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 32,121 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $211,906,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MCO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,974,432 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,418,296,000 after purchasing an additional 88,667 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 5.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,301,253 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,359,927,000 after purchasing an additional 205,800 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.3% during the third quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 1,693,940 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $535,573,000 after purchasing an additional 21,145 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,661,998 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $525,474,000 after purchasing an additional 59,476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,515,430 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $591,867,000 after purchasing an additional 4,444 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO stock traded up $0.95 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $376.13. The stock had a trading volume of 718,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 670,299. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $296.45 and a 12-month high of $407.62. The company has a market cap of $68.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $384.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $371.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 10.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Moody’s from $425.00 to $405.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.75.

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.