Tidal Investments LLC Has $4.44 Million Position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Tidal Investments LLC lessened its position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 83.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,369 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 46,175 shares during the quarter. Tidal Investments LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $4,435,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 worth $6,956,684,000 after purchasing an additional 63,820 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Moody's by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,799 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,738,645,000 after purchasing an additional 68,627 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter worth approximately $988,750,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Moody's by 20.5% during 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 during 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 worth $727,726,000 after purchasing an additional 53,504 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Performance

MCO traded down $1.57 during trading on Friday, hitting $470.19. The stock had a trading volume of 363,593 shares, compared to its average volume of 768,760. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $452.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $473.04. The firm has a market cap of $84.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. Moody's Co. has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. As a group, research analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Moody's's payout ratio is 32.47%.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays reduced their target price on Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Moody's from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock 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.