Blue Trust Inc. Sells 1,202 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Blue Trust Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 80.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 283 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,202 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $134,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 74,000.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 12.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 723,226 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position 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 worth $985,115,000 after acquiring an additional 502,891 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position 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 worth $1,107,344,000 after acquiring an additional 430,878 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,708,851,000 after purchasing an additional 416,535 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Down 2.3 %

Moody’s stock opened at $499.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. The company has a market capitalization of $89.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.33, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $487.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $480.70. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. Equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.17%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 in the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped 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 report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $528.77.

About Moody’s

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.