Aviva PLC Sells 36,448 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Aviva PLC cut its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 10.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 315,024 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 36,448 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $149,123,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 101.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $401.74 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $482.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $478.96. The firm has a market cap of $72.27 billion, a PE ratio of 35.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Moody’s from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $523.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total transaction of $192,178.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,092,537.92. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,258 shares of company stock valued at $610,936 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.14% 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.