AQR Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

AQR Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,931 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 553 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $8,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $485,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Moody’s by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,981,000 after buying an additional 4,544 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in Moody’s by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,861,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 994,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $470,712,000 after acquiring an additional 31,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,777,000 after acquiring an additional 3,510 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group boosted 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. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price 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. StockNews.com downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price objective for the company. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $515.87.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $463.98 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $83.47 billion, a PE ratio of 41.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $448.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $471.68.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,445,682. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 1,111 shares of company stock worth $520,603 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.