Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Decreases Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lowered its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 67,689 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,347 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $32,042,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Carson Advisory Inc. lifted its position in Moody’s by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 741 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Avitas Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,327,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $777,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 3.2% during 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 period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total transaction of $192,178.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,092,537.92. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,111 shares of company stock valued at $520,603. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MCO. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price for the company. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Moody’s from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $515.87.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $471.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $84.76 billion, a PE ratio of 41.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $446.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $471.60.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 32.47%.

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.