Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Sells 10,123 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC decreased its position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 69.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,369 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 10,123 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $2,068,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in Moody's in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Moody's by 80.6% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on MCO shares. UBS Group boosted 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price 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, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody's has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.87.

Moody's Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of MCO stock traded down $0.52 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $471.15. The company had a trading volume of 613,071 shares, compared to its average volume of 772,477. Moody's Co. has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-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. The firm has a market cap of $84.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $446.86 and a 200 day moving average of $471.56.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 32.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,092,537.92. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 1,111 shares of company stock valued at $520,603 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody's Company 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.