Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC Grows Stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 105,415 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,028 shares during the quarter. Moody's makes up 3.4% of Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC owned 0.06% of Moody's worth $49,900,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Carson Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in Moody's by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 741 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Moody's by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,327,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Moody's by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $213,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Moody's by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 746 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total value of $138,932.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,601,631.48. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 1,392 shares of company stock worth $659,535 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Performance

Moody's stock opened at $430.56 on Wednesday. Moody's Co. has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $77.45 billion, a PE ratio of 38.20, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. 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 company's 50-day moving average is $460.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $473.64.

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

Moody's Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. This is a boost from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is 33.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MCO. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho began coverage on Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price objective on the stock. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America started coverage on Moody's in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $524.33.

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.

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