Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Purchased by BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 31.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,916 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,331 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Moody's were worth $6,587,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MCO. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at about $988,750,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Moody's by 92,060.2% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 612,865 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $290,112,000 after buying an additional 612,200 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in shares of Moody's by 73.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,131,656 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $534,255,000 after buying an additional 479,599 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP boosted its position in Moody's by 510.8% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 422,624 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $200,058,000 after acquiring an additional 353,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Moody's in the 4th quarter worth approximately $150,376,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Moody's from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $515.87.

Moody's Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded up $1.54 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $431.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,147,924 shares, compared to its average volume of 779,070. The company has a market capitalization of $77.61 billion, a PE ratio of 38.28, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. 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 stock's 50-day moving average price is $460.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $473.64. Moody's Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,321,046.80. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,392 shares of company stock valued at $659,535. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.