Fielder Capital Group LLC Invests $601,000 in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Fielder Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,270 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $601,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Moody's by 12.3% during the 3rd 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 raised its stake in Moody's by 13.0% during the 3rd 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 raised its stake in Moody's by 22.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 430,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Moody's by 32.0% during 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 acquiring 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

Shares of NYSE MCO traded down $2.75 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $501.19. The company had a trading volume of 1,189,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 787,410. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock has a market cap of $90.21 billion, a PE ratio of 44.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $490.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $482.65. Moody's Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $531.93.

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

Moody's Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company'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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on MCO. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Moody's from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup began coverage on Moody's in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report 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, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.