Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Buys Shares of 19,058 Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 19,058 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $9,021,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Moody's by 272.2% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded down $0.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $459.73. The company had a trading volume of 1,091,115 shares, compared to its average volume of 707,382. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $485.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $480.45. Moody's Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93.

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Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MCO. StockNews.com cut Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Moody's from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup started coverage on Moody's in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price 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, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $527.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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.