Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd

Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd lowered its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 50.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,091 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 10,091 shares during the quarter. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $4,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 272.2% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered 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 given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $527.00.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $469.48 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $485.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $480.31. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. Equities research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 33.36%.

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.