626 Financial LLC Sells 230 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

626 Financial LLC cut its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 31.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 510 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 230 shares during the period. 626 Financial LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Traveka Wealth LLC bought a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $568,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 5,169 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,447,000 after purchasing an additional 1,085 shares during the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 932 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $441,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,294 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,290,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,390,984.84. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,243 shares of company stock worth $1,045,326. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.0 %

MCO opened at $462.55 on Wednesday. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $503.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $479.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $470.30. The company has a market capitalization of $83.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.24, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.43 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. Evercore ISI started coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $506.14.

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.