Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Stock Holdings Lessened by GTS Securities LLC

GTS Securities LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 75.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,046 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,303 shares during the quarter. GTS Securities LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $495,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth $988,750,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 92,060.2% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 612,865 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $290,112,000 after purchasing an additional 612,200 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 73.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,131,656 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $534,255,000 after purchasing an additional 479,599 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth about $150,376,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Moody's by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,776,729 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $841,050,000 after buying an additional 302,453 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Moody's from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $530.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moody's presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $520.87.

Moody's Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE:MCO traded up $2.86 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $481.37. The company had a trading volume of 422,582 shares, compared to its average volume of 768,290. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $453.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $473.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.71, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. Moody's Co. has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $531.93. 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 (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. Equities analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Moody's's payout ratio is 32.47%.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,445,682. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.14% 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.