Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG Purchases 10,350 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 16.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 73,335 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 10,350 shares during the quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG's holdings in Moody's were worth $34,715,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MCO. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,047,772 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,344,802,000 after acquiring an additional 63,556 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position 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 worth $3,123,294,000 after purchasing an additional 723,226 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Moody's by 13.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,708,851,000 after buying an additional 416,535 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Moody's by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,107,344,000 after buying an additional 430,878 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $985,115,000 after buying an additional 502,891 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Price Performance

MCO traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $519.18. The company had a trading volume of 655,302 shares, compared to its average volume of 733,694. Moody's Co. has a twelve month low of $360.05 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $486.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $479.80. The company has a market capitalization of $94.08 billion, a PE ratio of 46.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. Equities research analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 13.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total transaction of $146,738.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,321,046.80. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Moody's from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Moody's from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $528.77.

About Moody's

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.