Wellington Management Group LLP Buys 26,702 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 24.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 136,873 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 26,702 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 0.08% of Moody's worth $64,792,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MCO. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 164.1% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 1,436 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,676 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 4,300.0% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 3,124 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,483,000 after purchasing an additional 3,053 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody's during the third quarter valued at approximately $307,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 6.2% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,176 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $558,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Moody's by 3.6% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 67,999 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $32,272,000 after purchasing an additional 2,343 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MCO. Barclays dropped their target price on Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho began coverage on Moody's in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Moody's from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. One equities research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody's has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $523.43.

Moody's Stock Performance

Moody's stock traded down $17.21 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $421.38. 289,812 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 766,299. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The business's 50-day moving average is $473.99 and its 200-day moving average is $476.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.80 billion, a PE ratio of 37.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a $0.94 dividend. This is a boost from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total value of $138,932.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $30,601,631.48. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,258 shares of company stock worth $610,936 over the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.