Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 10,156 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp cut its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 207,604 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 10,156 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $98,274,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 272.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $469.48 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $485.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $480.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market cap of $84.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. On average, analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $527.00.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. 0.14% of the stock is owned by 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.