Achmea Investment Management B.V. Reduces Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Achmea Investment Management B.V. reduced its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,039 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $21,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $485,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,861,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 62,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,858,000 after buying an additional 6,340 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 32.5% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,777,000 after buying an additional 3,510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burney Co. purchased a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $6,775,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $441.64 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a market capitalization of $79.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The business’s 50-day moving average is $487.98 and its 200 day moving average is $481.97.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. 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 0.85%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 33.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of several analyst reports. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $527.00.

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.