Franklin Resources Inc. Decreases Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 619,268 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 8,828 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.34% of Moody’s worth $189,508,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,021 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.0% in the first quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 3,630 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,224,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Moody’s by 8.3% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 484 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $148,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Moody’s by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 363 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in Moody’s by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 6,470 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,980,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $355.00 to $360.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Moody’s from $350.00 to $404.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Moody’s from $346.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. Barclays raised their price objective on Moody’s from $300.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, June 15th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $325.53.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 282 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $351.24, for a total value of $99,049.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 65,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,124,939.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 282 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $351.24, for a total transaction of $99,049.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 65,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,124,939.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark Kaye sold 15,158 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.97, for a total value of $5,168,423.26. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,293.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,483 shares of company stock worth $8,360,390 over the last ninety days. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Moody’s stock traded down $1.89 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $337.43. 66,921 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 770,985. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $230.16 and a fifty-two week high of $363.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09. The firm has a market cap of $61.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.73, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $343.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $320.55.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The business services provider reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.07. Moody’s had a return on equity of 55.98% and a net margin of 25.81%. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 10.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 17th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.69%.

Moody’s Profile

Moody's Corporation operates as an integrated risk assessment firm worldwide. It operates in two segments, Moody's Investors Service and Moody's Analytics. The Moody's Investors Service segment publishes credit ratings and provides assessment services on various debt obligations, programs and facilities, and entities that issue such obligations, such as various corporate, financial institution, and governmental obligations, as well as and structured finance securities.