CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC Sells 629 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,721 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 629 shares during the quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $23,945,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $527.00.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $465.82 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $83.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $485.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $479.92. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $531.93. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Moody’s’s payout ratio 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.