Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 11,712 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Prudential Financial Inc. lessened its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 12.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,505 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11,712 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $38,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $477.52 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock has a market cap of $85.90 billion, a PE ratio of 42.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $486.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $480.33. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” 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 Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $527.00.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.