Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Sells 616 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,538 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 616 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $3,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 27,906 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,210,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $202,000. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 2,904 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,374,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Panoramic Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $240,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 3,271 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,548,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $528.77.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $511.27 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 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.37, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $486.89 and its 200 day moving average is $480.29.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.17%.

Moody’s Company 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.