Avanza Fonder AB Makes New $5.71 Million Investment in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 12,052 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,705,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Moody's by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,047,772 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,344,802,000 after buying an additional 63,556 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Moody's by 12.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,123,294,000 after acquiring an additional 723,226 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Moody's by 13.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,708,851,000 after acquiring an additional 416,535 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 22.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,107,344,000 after buying an additional 430,878 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 32.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $985,115,000 after buying an additional 502,891 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,524 shares of company stock worth $1,178,413. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Moody's from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer raised 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. Raymond James downgraded shares of Moody's from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $521.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup began 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $506.14.

Moody's Stock Down 0.7 %

MCO stock traded down $3.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $475.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 768,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 466,859. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $480.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $470.75. The company has a market capitalization of $86.20 billion, a PE ratio of 43.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.30. Moody's Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $503.95.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody's had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.43 EPS. The business's revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Moody's Co. will post 12.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

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.