Cantillon Capital Management LLC Buys 2,537 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Cantillon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 474,082 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,537 shares during the quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC owned 0.26% of Moody's worth $224,416,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MCO. Haverford Trust Co increased its position in shares of Moody's by 1.8% in the third quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 1,223 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $580,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Avitas Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,327,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in Moody's by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Okabena Investment Services Inc. raised its position in Moody's by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,313,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Moody's by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 746 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody's presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $528.77.

Moody's Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE MCO traded down $2.75 on Monday, reaching $501.19. 1,189,686 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 787,410. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $490.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $482.65. Moody's Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $90.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody's had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

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

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.