Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 75.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,491 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 22,611 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Moody’s were worth $3,546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE MCO opened at $477.52 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $85.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.37, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $486.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $480.33. 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 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. This is a positive change 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 presently 33.36%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $32,321,046.80. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on MCO shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $527.00.

Moody’s Company 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.