Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. cut its stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,264 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,398 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $14,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Moody's in the second quarter worth $45,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Moody's during the third quarter worth $153,532,000. White Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody's during the third quarter worth $244,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 79,887 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $31,206,000 after purchasing an additional 11,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Walter Public Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Walter Public Investments Inc. now owns 37,072 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $14,479,000 after purchasing an additional 7,250 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody's Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of MCO stock traded down $0.93 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $383.53. 661,598 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 719,830. Moody's Co. has a 1 year low of $296.45 and a 1 year high of $407.62. The stock has a market cap of $69.99 billion, a PE ratio of 43.93, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $387.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $366.76.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.14). Moody's had a return on equity of 55.23% and a net margin of 27.16%. The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.60 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 10.66 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This is an increase from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 38.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Moody's from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Moody's from $425.00 to $405.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Moody's from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Moody's from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody's currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $397.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 2,547 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.50, for a total value of $958,945.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,099 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,368,273.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.