Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Bought by Van Strum & Towne Inc.

Van Strum & Towne Inc. lifted its position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 18.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,750 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $2,249,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,047,772 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,344,802,000 after purchasing an additional 63,556 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Moody's by 12.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,123,294,000 after buying an additional 723,226 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Moody's by 13.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,708,851,000 after buying an additional 416,535 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Moody's by 22.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,107,344,000 after buying an additional 430,878 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Moody's by 32.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $985,115,000 after buying an additional 502,891 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

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Moody's Stock Up 2.3 %

NYSE:MCO traded up $10.15 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $460.25. The stock had a trading volume of 1,004,550 shares, compared to its average volume of 705,450. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $485.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $480.94. The company has a market capitalization of $82.79 billion, a PE ratio of 40.84, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. Moody's Co. has a twelve month low of $360.05 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. This is a boost from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $133,087.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on MCO. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Moody's from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $527.00.

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.