Capital Fund Management S.A. Buys New Position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Capital Fund Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 23,654 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $11,197,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avitas Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,327,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $213,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $777,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in 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 last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional boosted its position in Moody's by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MCO shares. Mizuho assumed coverage on Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America started coverage on Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price target on the stock. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $524.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,321,046.80. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,258 shares of company stock valued at $610,936 in the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of MCO traded down $3.44 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $434.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 776,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 772,439. The company has a market cap of $78.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.53, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $470.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $475.49. Moody's Co. has a 52-week low of $360.05 and a 52-week high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. This is an increase from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.