Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp lessened its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,891 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 887 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $12,730,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MCO. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 74,000.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 724,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $343,935,000 after acquiring an additional 723,721 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,123,294,000 after acquiring an additional 723,226 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 32.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $985,115,000 after purchasing an additional 502,891 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 22.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,344,000 after purchasing an additional 430,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 13.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,708,851,000 after purchasing an additional 416,535 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup initiated coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $528.77.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.5 %

Moody’s stock opened at $511.27 on Friday. 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 $92.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.37, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.31. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $531.93. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $486.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $480.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.17%.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total transaction of $146,738.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.