Fox Run Management L.L.C. Trims Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Fox Run Management L.L.C. decreased its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 62.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 869 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,466 shares during the period. Fox Run Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $411,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 272.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 over the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $527.00.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE MCO opened at $477.52 on Wednesday. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $486.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $480.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.90 billion, a PE ratio of 42.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. 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 Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Moody’s Company 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.