Maple Capital Management Inc. Sells 26 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Maple Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,156 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 26 shares during the quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MCO. Haverford Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.8% in the third quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 1,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC grew 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 in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 5.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. boosted its position in Moody’s by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Moody’s by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 746 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $503.63 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The business has a 50-day moving average of $489.59 and a 200 day moving average of $482.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup started coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $528.77.

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.