Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 63,820 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,696,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 63,820 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.08% of Moody’s worth $6,956,684,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MCO. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth about $273,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Moody’s by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,968 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,629,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its stake in Moody’s by 106.4% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 5,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,953 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth about $210,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 40,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $19,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total transaction of $146,738.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,321,046.80. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 in the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO stock opened at $459.73 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $485.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $480.42. The stock has a market cap of $82.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.79, 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 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. Research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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 presently 33.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.