89,161 Shares in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Bought by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 89,161 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $42,206,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 272.2% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Moody's during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Moody's in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MCO shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Moody's from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho began coverage on Moody's in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted 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 assumed coverage on Moody's in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $527.00.

Moody's Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of MCO traded down $7.69 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $469.55. The company had a trading volume of 649,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 708,098. Moody's Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. The company has a market capitalization of $84.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $486.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $480.33.

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

Moody's Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a boost from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.