Fox Run Management L.L.C. Reduces Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Fox Run Management L.L.C. lowered its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 62.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 869 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,466 shares during the quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Avitas Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 746 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. CX Institutional grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $527,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $696,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $527.00.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total transaction of $146,738.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 over the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of MCO stock opened at $477.52 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $85.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $486.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $480.33.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. On average, analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.36%.

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.