Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Stock Position Reduced by Artisan Partners Limited Partnership

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership trimmed its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 43.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 71,784 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 55,158 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $33,980,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MCO. Avitas Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 5.1% during 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 period. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. 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 raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.7% during 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 period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,321,046.80. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 in the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $461.09 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $485.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $480.03. The company has a market capitalization of $82.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.91, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $360.05 and a twelve month high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. As a group, analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MCO. 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 upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $527.00.

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.