Two Sigma Investments LP Sells 114,558 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Two Sigma Investments LP cut its holdings in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 61.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 70,843 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 114,558 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP's holdings in Moody's were worth $33,535,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Moody's by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,001 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $485,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,560 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $31,981,000 after buying an additional 4,544 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $8,861,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 994,384 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $470,712,000 after acquiring an additional 31,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMJ Financial Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth $312,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the 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 directly owns 62,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,445,682. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody's Stock Performance

MCO traded down $1.57 during trading on Monday, hitting $470.19. The stock had a trading volume of 363,593 shares, compared to its average volume of 769,846. The firm has a market cap of $84.59 billion, a PE ratio of 41.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $452.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $473.18.

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

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given 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 0.80%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is 32.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. 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 report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price 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. One equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $515.87.

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.