Nordea Investment Management AB Has $104.77 Million Holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 1,506.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 220,279 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 206,570 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB owned about 0.12% of Moody's worth $104,774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in Moody's by 566.7% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moody's during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in shares of Moody's by 83.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Moody's from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James cut Moody's from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody's from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $521.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Moody's from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $506.14.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO traded down $8.84 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $464.30. The company had a trading volume of 719,710 shares, compared to its average volume of 528,127. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $479.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $468.55. The stock has a market cap of $84.13 billion, a PE ratio of 42.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Moody's Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $503.95.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.43 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is 31.05%.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other Moody's news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total value of $133,435.66. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,390,984.84. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,243 shares of company stock valued at $1,045,326. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Moody's Company 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.