Taika Capital LP Makes New Investment in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Taika Capital LP bought a new position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 6,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,241,000. Moody’s makes up approximately 2.5% of Taika Capital LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Amundi lifted 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 valued at $534,255,000 after purchasing an additional 479,599 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 80.6% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HM Payson & Co. increased its position in Moody’s by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 3,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,637,000 after buying an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,390,984.84. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 over the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $461.97 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $489.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $482.72. 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 capitalization of $83.15 billion, a PE ratio of 40.99, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the topic of several analyst reports. 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. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased 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, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $528.77.

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.