Pinebridge Investments L.P. Sells 6,026 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Pinebridge Investments L.P. lowered its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 88,238 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,026 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments L.P.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $41,769,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Carson Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 741 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 0.8% in the fourth 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 lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $777,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total value of $192,178.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,824 shares in the company, valued at $29,092,537.92. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,392 shares of company stock worth $659,535. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $530.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group upped their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $524.33.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $430.56 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a market cap of $77.45 billion, a PE ratio of 38.20, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $460.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $473.64.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. 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 was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.