Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Holdings Decreased by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 75.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,491 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 22,611 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Moody’s were worth $3,546,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avitas Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $213,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. CX Institutional grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $527.00.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $477.52 on Wednesday. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The business’s fifty day moving average is $486.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $480.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. On average, research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s payout ratio 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.