DnB Asset Management AS Raises Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

DnB Asset Management AS increased its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 30,661 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,011 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $14,514,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $273,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 722 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 272.2% in 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. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 31.9% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,051 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $499,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in Moody’s by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,880 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,367,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $461.09 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $485.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $480.03. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The firm has a market cap 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Equities 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 33.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MCO. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho started coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $527.00.

Insider Activity

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.