Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Has $48.74 Million Position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 102,956 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,701 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned 0.06% of Moody's worth $48,736,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Moody's by 272.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in Moody's during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in shares of Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of Moody's stock traded up $2.88 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $471.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 443,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 813,649. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The business's 50-day moving average price is $485.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $479.86. 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 $84.85 billion, a PE ratio of 41.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

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Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. Equities analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MCO. UBS Group raised their price target on Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One investment 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody's currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $527.00.

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.