Wayfinding Financial LLC Takes Position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 563 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,001 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Moody's by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,560 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $31,981,000 after acquiring an additional 4,544 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in Moody's by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $8,861,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in shares of Moody's by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 62,913 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $29,858,000 after purchasing an additional 6,340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 32.5% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,777,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510 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 1.8 %

NYSE MCO traded up $8.37 on Tuesday, hitting $477.52. 754,845 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 708,367. Moody's Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $486.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $480.33. 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 company has a market cap of $85.90 billion, a PE ratio of 42.37, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. 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 (DPR) is 33.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. 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. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group upped their price target on Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho began coverage on Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price objective for the company. Finally, William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $527.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total transaction of $146,738.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. 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. Insiders sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 over the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.