22,900 Shares in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Purchased by Andra AP fonden

Andra AP fonden acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 22,900 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $10,840,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Moody's by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,001 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $8,861,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of Moody's by 11.2% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 62,913 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $29,858,000 after acquiring an additional 6,340 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its position in Moody's by 32.5% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,777,000 after acquiring an additional 3,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burney Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at $6,775,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moody's in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $528.77.

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Insider Activity at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 over the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $461.97 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $83.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. Moody's Co. has a 52-week low of $360.05 and a 52-week high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. The firm's fifty day moving average is $489.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $482.61.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 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 company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

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.

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