Atala Financial Inc Takes $317,000 Position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 669 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $317,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Moody's by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,001 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $485,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Moody's by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,560 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $31,981,000 after purchasing an additional 4,544 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in Moody's by 6.6% in 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 raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 6,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its holdings in Moody's by 32.5% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,777,000 after buying an additional 3,510 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

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Moody's Price Performance

Shares of MCO stock traded down $3.36 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $450.23. 611,781 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 704,678. The company's 50 day moving average price is $486.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $481.20. 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 company has a market cap of $80.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.95, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. Moody's Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. This is a boost from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,390,984.84. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Moody's from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Moody's from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $527.00.

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.