Tower Bridge Advisors Sells 258 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Tower Bridge Advisors reduced its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,783 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 258 shares during the period. Tower Bridge Advisors’ holdings in Moody’s were worth $8,891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Valmark Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at about $225,000. Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 5.2% in the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 1,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at about $204,000. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 6.4% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 21,704 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,301,000 after purchasing an additional 1,312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Human Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at about $219,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Up 2.2 %

NYSE MCO opened at $503.63 on Friday. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $489.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $482.18. The company has a market capitalization of $90.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.69, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Equities 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 announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 33.36%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup started coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $528.77.

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.