Candriam S.C.A. Has $18.80 Million Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Candriam S.C.A. lessened its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 39,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,001 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $18,798,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 272.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Trading Down 2.5 %

Moody’s stock opened at $470.16 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $531.93. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $489.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $482.66. The company has a market capitalization of $84.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.72, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $528.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.