Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC cut its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 19.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 955 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 230 shares during the period. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $452,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its position in Moody’s by 566.7% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 in the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MCO. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup began coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $528.77.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $503.63 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $90.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $489.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $482.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $360.05 and a twelve month 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

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

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.