Gabelli Funds LLC Boosts Stock Position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Gabelli Funds LLC grew its holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 12.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 51,140 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,701 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $24,208,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth approximately $988,750,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 92,060.2% during 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 increased its position in shares of Moody's by 73.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,131,656 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $534,255,000 after acquiring an additional 479,599 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP lifted its position in Moody's by 510.8% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 422,624 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $200,058,000 after acquiring an additional 353,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at about $150,376,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total transaction of $192,178.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,092,537.92. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,392 shares of company stock valued at $659,535. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on MCO. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Moody's from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody's presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $524.33.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO traded down $11.05 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $413.81. The company had a trading volume of 139,084 shares, compared to its average volume of 770,155. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $463.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $474.26. The company has a market capitalization of $74.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. 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 announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.36%.

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.