Unigestion Holding SA Grows Position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Unigestion Holding SA lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 58.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,294 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,700 shares during the quarter. Unigestion Holding SA's holdings in Moody's were worth $3,453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in Moody's by 101.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 109 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total value of $192,178.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,092,537.92. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,258 shares of company stock valued at $610,936. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on MCO. Barclays reduced their price objective on Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Thursday. They set a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $524.86.

Moody's Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded up $3.91 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $426.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 436,743 shares, compared to its average volume of 769,823. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $472.50 and a 200-day moving average of $476.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.57, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. Moody's Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $531.93.

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 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 business 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a boost from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

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.