Optimize Financial Inc Makes New Investment in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Optimize Financial Inc bought a new position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 701 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $332,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody's by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,696,081 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,956,684,000 after purchasing an additional 63,820 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,799 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,738,645,000 after buying an additional 68,627 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter worth approximately $988,750,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,537,331 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $727,726,000 after acquiring an additional 53,504 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 73.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,131,656 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $534,255,000 after acquiring an additional 479,599 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody's Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE:MCO traded down $3.44 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $434.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 776,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 772,439. Moody's Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $531.93. The business's 50-day moving average is $468.69 and its 200-day moving average is $475.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The company has a market cap of $78.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38.

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Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a $0.94 dividend. This is a positive change from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MCO. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays dropped their price target 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. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup began coverage on Moody's in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $524.86.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total transaction of $138,932.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,601,631.48. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,258 shares of company stock worth $610,936. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.