AlphaQuest LLC Sells 129 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

AlphaQuest LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,313 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 129 shares during the quarter. Moody’s accounts for 0.3% of AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its position in Moody’s by 566.7% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on MCO shares. Citigroup began coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group boosted 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, February 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $528.77.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,390,984.84. 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 available at this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $461.97 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $489.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $482.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

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.