Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Stock Position Reduced by Sandy Spring Bank

Sandy Spring Bank trimmed its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 35.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 173 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 95 shares during the quarter. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $68,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 59.7% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,744 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,773 shares during the last quarter. Tobam boosted its position in Moody’s by 2,010.0% during the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 211 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth $64,000. Finally, Windmill Hill Asset Management Ltd increased its position in Moody’s by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Windmill Hill Asset Management Ltd now owns 7,557 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,951,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $397.75.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 2,547 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.50, for a total transaction of $958,945.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,368,273.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $377.16 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $386.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $367.13. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $296.45 and a 52-week high of $407.62. The firm has a market cap of $68.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.20, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.27.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.14). Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 10.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 38.95%.

About Moody’s

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.