Oxbow Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Oxbow Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,853 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 313 shares during the period. Moody’s comprises approximately 1.1% of Oxbow Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Oxbow Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $9,398,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $485,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in Moody’s by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in Moody’s by 11.2% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 62,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,858,000 after purchasing an additional 6,340 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 32.5% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,777,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burney Co. bought a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,775,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MCO. Citigroup began coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $528.77.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $499.62 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $487.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $480.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The firm has a market cap of $89.93 billion, a PE ratio of 44.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.31.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Company 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.