Boston Financial Mangement LLC Sells 2,703 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Boston Financial Mangement LLC lowered its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,996 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,703 shares during the quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $23,193,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,263,000 after acquiring an additional 2,933 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 7.8% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,424 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,100,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth about $140,000. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,677,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,816,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $519.18 on Thursday. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $531.93. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $486.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $480.07. The firm has a market cap of $94.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.31.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 30.17%.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 over the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $528.77.

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.