United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Has $36.75 Million Holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund raised its holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 10.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,626 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 7,590 shares during the period. Moody's comprises approximately 1.4% of United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund's holdings in Moody's were worth $36,746,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 12.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,123,294,000 after purchasing an additional 723,226 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 92,060.2% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 612,865 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $290,112,000 after buying an additional 612,200 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 73.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,131,656 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $534,255,000 after buying an additional 479,599 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Moody's by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,708,851,000 after buying an additional 416,535 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP lifted its position in Moody's by 510.8% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 422,624 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $200,058,000 after acquiring an additional 353,431 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 $29,390,984.84. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Moody's from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $527.00.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of Moody's stock traded down $7.89 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $461.09. 535,573 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 744,111. The stock has a market cap of $82.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.91, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $485.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $480.00. Moody's Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. This is a positive change from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

About Moody's

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.