Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Position Boosted by Proficio Capital Partners LLC

Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 94.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,295 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 630 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $613,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Avitas Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Moody's by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $213,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,313,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 746 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional boosted its position in Moody's by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded down $0.66 on Thursday, reaching $469.44. 526,671 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 827,802. The business's 50-day moving average is $486.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $480.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Moody's Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.65, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody's had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. 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 is presently 33.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho assumed coverage on Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus 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 the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,390,984.84. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 over the last three months. Company 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.