Trust Co. of Vermont Sells 971 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Trust Co. of Vermont lessened its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 86.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 146 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 971 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $57,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Moody’s by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 150 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Strategic Advocates LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $738,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 459 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $179,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Realta Investment Advisors raised its stake in Moody’s by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Realta Investment Advisors now owns 997 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on MCO shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $350.00 to $374.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $405.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Moody’s from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com raised Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $400.50.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.0 %

MCO opened at $412.32 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $75.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.01, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The company’s 50 day moving average is $394.80 and its 200-day moving average is $388.79. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $298.86 and a 1-year high of $417.75.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.01% and a return on equity of 54.50%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 10.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 37.12%.

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.