Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 842 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 58 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 12.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,123,294,000 after buying an additional 723,226 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in 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 valued at $985,115,000 after acquiring an additional 502,891 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in 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 valued at $1,107,344,000 after acquiring an additional 430,878 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 13.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,708,851,000 after acquiring an additional 416,535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP grew its position in Moody’s by 510.8% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 422,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $200,058,000 after acquiring an additional 353,431 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $500.93 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $487.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $481.42. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.17 billion, a PE ratio of 44.45, 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. This is a boost 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 33.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on MCO. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of 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 increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $528.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.