Central Bank & Trust Co. Trims Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Central Bank & Trust Co. reduced its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 16.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,276 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,445 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $5,717,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 13.5% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 3,645 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,697,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in Moody’s by 5.8% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,427 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,040,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Moody’s by 293.4% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 8,864 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,128,000 after purchasing an additional 6,611 shares during the last quarter. Clean Yield Group increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 933.1% in the first quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 4,153 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,934,000 after buying an additional 3,751 shares during the period. Finally, OLIO Financial Planning increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 27.5% in the first quarter. OLIO Financial Planning now owns 732 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $341,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $489.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $87.97 billion, a PE ratio of 43.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $455.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $473.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $378.71 and a one year high of $531.93.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 32.47%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were 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 owns 62,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,445,682. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on Moody’s from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $530.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $519.40.

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.