Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Acquires 1,624 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 154.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,675 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,624 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P's holdings in Moody's were worth $1,266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Moody's by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,001 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $485,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Moody's by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,560 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $31,981,000 after buying an additional 4,544 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in Moody's by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $8,861,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of Moody's by 11.2% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 62,913 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $29,858,000 after buying an additional 6,340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 32.5% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,777,000 after buying an additional 3,510 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Moody's Trading Down 4.7 %

Moody's stock traded down $22.20 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $448.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 289,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 740,814. 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 50 day moving average of $484.78 and a 200-day moving average of $479.80. Moody's Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $531.93. The stock has a market cap of $80.71 billion, a PE ratio of 39.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Moody's had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This is a positive change 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 0.84%. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total transaction of $138,932.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,601,631.48. This represents 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. Insiders have sold a total of 1,258 shares of company stock valued at $610,936 over the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on MCO shares. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Moody's in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price target on the stock. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $527.00.

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.