J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Increases Holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG increased its holdings in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 73,618 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 977 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in Moody's were worth $34,849,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth about $988,750,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Moody's by 92,060.2% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 612,865 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $290,112,000 after buying an additional 612,200 shares during the period. Amundi grew its holdings in Moody's by 73.6% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 510.8% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at $150,376,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total transaction of $146,738.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,392 shares of company stock worth $659,535. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on MCO. Bank of America began coverage on Moody's in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Moody's from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Barclays decreased their price target on Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.87.

Moody's Stock Up 0.4 %

MCO traded up $1.54 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $431.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,147,924 shares, compared to its average volume of 779,070. Moody's Co. has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $77.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.28, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The stock's 50-day moving average is $458.17 and its 200-day moving average is $473.35.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody's had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Moody's 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.