Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Holdings Trimmed by Tidal Investments LLC

Tidal Investments LLC lowered its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 83.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,369 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 46,175 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $4,435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $126,000. Tema Etfs LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,236,000. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in Moody’s by 27.6% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 175,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $83,183,000 after acquiring an additional 38,014 shares in the last quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 561.5% in the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 41,179 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $19,493,000 after purchasing an additional 34,954 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,445,682. This trade represents a 0.66% 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 own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.1%

Moody’s stock opened at $486.60 on Wednesday. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $451.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $472.90. 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 company has a market capitalization of $87.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.18, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 EPS 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 business had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MCO. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Moody’s from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $515.87.

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.