Rehmann Capital Advisory Group Cuts Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Rehmann Capital Advisory Group reduced its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,765 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 34 shares during the quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $3,676,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MCO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,696,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,956,684,000 after buying an additional 63,820 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,799 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,738,645,000 after purchasing an additional 68,627 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $988,750,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,776,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $841,050,000 after purchasing an additional 302,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,537,331 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $727,726,000 after purchasing an additional 53,504 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total transaction of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,445,682. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,392 shares of company stock valued at $659,535. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $447.43 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $80.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.70, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $452.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $472.60.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 32.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $530.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $515.87.

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.