Handelsbanken Fonder AB Purchases 9,830 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 18.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 61,953 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 9,830 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Moody's were worth $29,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake 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 valued at $3,344,802,000 after purchasing an additional 63,556 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 723,226 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Moody's by 13.0% in the third 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 buying an additional 416,535 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Moody's by 22.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,107,344,000 after buying an additional 430,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 32.0% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE MCO traded down $12.00 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $499.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,348,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 754,611. Moody's Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $486.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $480.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.33, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.31. 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 (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a positive change from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Moody's's payout ratio is 30.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Moody's in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Moody's from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Moody's from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $528.77.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

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.