Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Stake Boosted by Jones Financial Companies Lllp

Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 34.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,720 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,996 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp's holdings in Moody's were worth $3,654,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 566.7% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 272.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody's Price Performance

NYSE:MCO traded up $0.82 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $482.12. 801,908 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 795,278. Moody's Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $531.93. The company has a market capitalization of $86.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $490.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $482.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody's had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.94 dividend. This is a positive change from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. Moody's's payout ratio is 33.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on MCO. Citigroup began coverage on Moody's in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Moody's from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $528.77.

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.