Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New $150.38 Million Investment in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 317,671 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $150,376,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.18% of Moody's at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at about $67,000. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,303,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Moody's by 94.7% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $613,000 after acquiring an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in Moody's by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 64,877 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $30,711,000 after acquiring an additional 1,964 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in Moody's by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 8,075 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,823,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MCO. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $528.77.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded down $8.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $461.97. The company had a trading volume of 1,245,440 shares, compared to its average volume of 812,406. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The firm has a market cap of $83.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.99, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The company's 50-day moving average price is $489.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $482.61. Moody's Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. As a group, equities research 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 will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. This is a positive change from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody's's payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

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.