Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.

Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,911 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 350 shares during the quarter. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,527,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Natixis acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 4,900.0% in the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter worth $35,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $427.00 to $411.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $425.00 to $405.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $390.42.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 2,547 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.50, for a total transaction of $958,945.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,368,273.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE MCO traded up $4.30 during trading on Thursday, hitting $394.54. The stock had a trading volume of 133,769 shares, compared to its average volume of 714,498. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $290.98 and a one year high of $407.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $386.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $362.64.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 55.23% and a net margin of 27.16%. The business’s revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 10.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.95%.

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.