Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 89 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Sentry Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 825 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 89 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $322,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $425,827,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Moody’s by 277.8% in the 3rd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,544,160 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $488,217,000 after buying an additional 1,135,463 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,994,497 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,112,947,000 after acquiring an additional 914,530 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter worth approximately $153,532,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 39.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,510,986 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $477,728,000 after purchasing an additional 429,473 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $397.75.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $373.54 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $386.23 and its 200-day moving average is $368.26. The firm has a market cap of $68.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $296.45 and a 12-month high of $407.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.48 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 10.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.95%.

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.