Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 13.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 986 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 157 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Graypoint LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 973 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $462,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,434,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $983,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Kerusso Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Kerusso Capital Management LLC now owns 8,367 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,971,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 20.9% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 14,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,833,000 after buying an additional 2,487 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $461.97 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $489.67 and its 200 day moving average is $482.67. 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 $83.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. 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 (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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $528.77.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s 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.