Groupama Asset Managment Takes $2.59 Million Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 5,478 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,594,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 44.3% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 2,318 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,100,000 after acquiring an additional 712 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 164.1% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 1,436 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $682,000 after buying an additional 3,676 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its position in Moody’s by 890.2% during the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 5,159 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,448,000 after purchasing an additional 4,638 shares in the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 37,741 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,577 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake 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. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $468.29 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $84.24 billion, a PE ratio of 41.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $531.93. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $485.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $479.86.

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, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target 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 given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $527.00.

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.