Schroder Investment Management Group Purchases 9,775 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 506,282 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 9,775 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group owned 0.28% of Moody's worth $239,659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody's Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Moody's stock traded up $2.60 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $468.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 674,224 shares, compared to its average volume of 744,319. The company has a market capitalization of $84.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $485.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $479.92. Moody's Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47.

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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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. On average, research analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. Moody's's payout ratio is 33.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price target for the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Moody's from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moody's currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $527.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. Corporate insiders own 0.14% 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.