Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 22,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,148 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $10,805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s by 101.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.6 %

MCO stock opened at $471.66 on Thursday. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $484.78 and its 200 day moving average is $479.80. The firm has a market cap of $84.85 billion, a PE ratio of 41.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total transaction of $192,178.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,824 shares in the company, valued at $29,092,537.92. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 1,258 shares of company stock valued at $610,936 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price objective on the stock. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $527.00.

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.