Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Purchased by Catalyst Financial Partners LLC

Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $213,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 11.2% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 62,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,858,000 after acquiring an additional 6,340 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 32.5% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,777,000 after acquiring an additional 3,510 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $6,775,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 567.2% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 80,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,338,000 after acquiring an additional 68,674 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $468.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $522.62.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total value of $138,932.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $30,601,631.48. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 843 shares of company stock worth $405,455. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE MCO opened at $522.76 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $484.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $478.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The company has a market capitalization of $94.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.31.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. As a group, research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.94 dividend. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

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.