Connable Office Inc. Has $3.32 Million Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Connable Office Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,010 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 119 shares during the period. Connable Office Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $3,318,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Valmark Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in Moody’s in the third quarter valued at $225,000. Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 5.2% in the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 1,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s in the third quarter valued at $204,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 6.4% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 21,704 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,301,000 after buying an additional 1,312 shares during the period. Finally, Human Investing LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s in the third quarter valued at $219,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total transaction of $146,738.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. The trade was 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on MCO. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $528.77.

Moody’s Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $503.63 on Friday. 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 50-day moving average of $489.59 and a 200-day moving average of $482.18. The company has a market cap of $90.65 billion, a PE ratio of 44.69, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 33.36%.

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.