Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Raises Holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 248.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 270,788 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 193,175 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 0.15% of Moody's worth $128,183,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 272.2% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,258 shares of company stock valued at $610,936. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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Moody's Stock Down 5.6 %

NYSE MCO traded down $24.82 on Friday, hitting $417.57. 513,037 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 743,863. Moody's Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $483.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $479.54. The company has a market cap of $75.12 billion, a PE ratio of 37.16, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. 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 (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. This is an increase from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho started coverage on Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price objective for the company. Barclays cut their price objective on Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Citigroup initiated coverage on Moody's in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. Finally, William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody's presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $523.43.

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.