Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 578,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 15,093 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.32% of Moody’s worth $273,790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 101.9% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $468.29 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.24 billion, a PE ratio of 41.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $485.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $479.86.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 33.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MCO. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $527.00.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s 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 value of $133,087.22. Following the completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.