Vinva Investment Management Ltd Acquires 835 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 11.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,056 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Moody's were worth $3,815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC raised its position 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 valued at $3,123,294,000 after buying an additional 723,226 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 92,060.2% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 612,865 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $290,112,000 after purchasing an additional 612,200 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Moody's by 32.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 502,891 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 73.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,131,656 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $534,255,000 after purchasing an additional 479,599 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position 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 valued at $1,107,344,000 after purchasing an additional 430,878 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total transaction of $146,738.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Price Performance

NYSE:MCO traded up $9.99 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $469.48. 910,931 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 709,045. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock has a market cap of $84.45 billion, a PE ratio of 41.66, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. Moody's Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The company has a fifty day moving average of $485.57 and a 200 day moving average of $480.42.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is 33.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Moody's from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com lowered Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $527.00.

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.