Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Reduces Holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec cut its holdings in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 144,023 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 11,088 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned about 0.08% of Moody's worth $68,176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Moody's during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Moody's by 80.6% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on MCO. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a report on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America started coverage on Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price target for the company. Mizuho began coverage on Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $515.87.

Moody's Stock Performance

Moody's stock traded up $13.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $465.35. 733,550 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 773,236. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $449.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $471.90. Moody's Co. has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The firm has a market cap of $83.72 billion, a PE ratio of 41.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. Equities analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.47%.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 1,392 shares of company stock worth $659,535 over the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.