Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Position Boosted by Unigestion Holding SA

Unigestion Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 58.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,294 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $3,453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 101.9% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $401.74 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $482.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $478.93. The company has a market cap of $72.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Equities analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. 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 yield of 0.94%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total transaction of $138,932.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $30,601,631.48. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,258 shares of company stock worth $610,936. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MCO. Barclays cut their target price on Moody’s from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Citigroup assumed coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $523.43.

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.