Okabena Investment Services Inc. Increases Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Okabena Investment Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,105 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 338 shares during the quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $461.09 on Friday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $485.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $480.03. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.91, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

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 return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 33.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MCO. Mizuho assumed coverage on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $527.00.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at $32,321,046.80. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.