1,060 Shares in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Acquired by Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,060 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $502,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its position in Moody's by 566.7% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 272.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Moody's during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $528.77.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded down $2.50 on Monday, reaching $501.44. 497,752 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 769,395. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Moody's Co. has a twelve month low of $360.05 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The company has a fifty day moving average of $489.59 and a 200-day moving average of $482.41. The company has a market capitalization of $90.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.50, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. On average, research analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

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.