Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Grows Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $273,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 722 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 164.2% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 560 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 3,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,424,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective on the stock. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $527.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value 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 $32,321,046.80. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $469.55 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.47 billion, a PE ratio of 41.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $486.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $480.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This is an increase 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 dividend yield of 0.80%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.36%.

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.