Mizuho Securities USA LLC Acquires 4,614 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 45.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,769 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,614 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $6,991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 12.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,123,294,000 after buying an additional 723,226 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 92,060.2% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 612,865 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $290,112,000 after purchasing an additional 612,200 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in Moody's by 73.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,131,656 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $534,255,000 after buying an additional 479,599 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Moody's by 13.0% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 416,535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP boosted its holdings in Moody's by 510.8% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 422,624 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $200,058,000 after acquiring an additional 353,431 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Moody's Price Performance

Moody's stock traded down $0.66 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $469.44. 526,672 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 707,385. The company's fifty day moving average is $486.05 and its 200-day moving average is $480.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. Moody's Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The firm has a market cap of $84.45 billion, a PE ratio of 41.65, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.94 dividend. This is an increase from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price 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, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody's currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $527.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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.