Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Nuveen Asset Management LLC

Nuveen Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 702,606 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 101,002 shares during the quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned about 0.39% of Moody's worth $332,593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its position in Moody's by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 6,869 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,252,000 after buying an additional 1,168 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in Moody's during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $122,000. Napa Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at $998,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 137.6% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 51,937 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $24,585,000 after acquiring an additional 30,078 shares during the period. Finally, Moore Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 2,046.6% during the fourth quarter. Moore Capital Management LP now owns 21,638 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $10,243,000 after purchasing an additional 20,630 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total value of $192,178.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,824 shares in the company, valued at $29,092,537.92. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,111 shares of company stock worth $520,603. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. UBS Group increased their price target on Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, February 14th. 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 note on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.87.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO traded up $1.82 during trading on Friday, hitting $489.15. The company had a trading volume of 504,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 771,917. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $449.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $472.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Moody's Co. has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody's had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. 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.