Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Buys 104 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,833 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $3,235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Moody’s by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $983,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Moody’s by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,143 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $546,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in Moody’s by 20.9% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 14,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,833,000 after purchasing an additional 2,487 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 56,195 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,670,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 44.2% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,168 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $449.99 on Tuesday. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $489.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $482.51. The stock has a market cap of $81.00 billion, a PE ratio of 39.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Research analysts predict 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 will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MCO shares. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup started coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $528.77.

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.