49,902 Shares in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Bought by Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 49,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $23,646,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 164.1% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 1,436 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,676 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter worth $307,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,176 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $558,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 388.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 78.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 12,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,764,000 after purchasing an additional 5,331 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $401.74 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $482.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $478.93. The company has a market capitalization of $72.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted 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 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. Research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup began coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $523.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total value of $138,932.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,601,631.48. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,258 shares of company stock valued at $610,936. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.