Congress Asset Management Co. Has $106.47 Million Position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 224,928 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,183 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. owned about 0.12% of Moody's worth $106,474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,047,772 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,344,802,000 after buying an additional 63,556 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Moody's by 12.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,123,294,000 after acquiring an additional 723,226 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 13.0% during the third 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 during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,107,344,000 after purchasing an additional 430,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $985,115,000 after purchasing an additional 502,891 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody's Trading Down 0.1 %

Moody's stock traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $519.18. 654,897 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 733,675. Moody's Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The firm's 50 day moving average is $486.13 and its 200-day moving average is $479.80. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $94.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.07, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.31.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. On average, analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 13.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Moody's's payout ratio is 30.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,601,631.48. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 843 shares of company stock valued at $405,455. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MCO. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Moody's from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody's from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Citigroup began coverage on Moody's in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $528.77.

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.