Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Centiva Capital LP

Centiva Capital LP lessened its stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 40.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,578 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,065 shares during the quarter. Centiva Capital LP's holdings in Moody's were worth $747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Moody's by 80.6% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MCO shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price objective for the company. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research 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 for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $146,738.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 1,111 shares of company stock worth $520,603 over the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody's Trading Down 0.1%

MCO stock traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $471.15. 613,071 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 772,899. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.81, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $446.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $471.63. Moody's Co. has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $531.93.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody's had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.47%.

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.