Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Sells 29,335 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 89.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 29,335 shares during the quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,715,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 80.6% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.2%

MCO stock opened at $471.60 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $451.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $472.99. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $84.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.47%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,445,682. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MCO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Moody’s from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Moody’s from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Moody’s from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Moody’s from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $515.87.

Moody’s Company 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.