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

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,730 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 92 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $10,286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Haverford Trust Co increased its position in Moody’s by 1.8% during the third quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 1,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,327,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. raised its position in Moody’s by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,313,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Moody’s by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 746 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 in the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $528.77.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $493.65 on Friday. 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 market cap of $88.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.80, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $488.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $481.88.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released 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 firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. As a group, research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

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.