Patton Fund Management Inc. Sells 1,860 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Patton Fund Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 23.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,212 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,860 shares during the quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,893,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 80.6% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $66,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $67,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $73,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $489.00 to $523.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $530.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $519.40.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $476.59 on Tuesday. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $378.71 and a 52-week high of $531.93. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $463.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $472.93. 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 company has a market capitalization of $85.74 billion, a PE ratio of 42.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.39.

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

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 32.47%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total value of $192,178.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,824 shares in the company, valued at $29,092,537.92. This trade represents a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.