Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Acquired by Graypoint LLC

Graypoint LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,004 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,047,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,344,802,000 after acquiring an additional 63,556 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,123,294,000 after purchasing an additional 723,226 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,708,851,000 after buying an additional 416,535 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 22.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,344,000 after buying an additional 430,878 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Moody’s by 32.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $985,115,000 after acquiring an additional 502,891 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Down 4.2 %

MCO opened at $452.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $81.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $479.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $469.38. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $503.95.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.43 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MCO. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Raymond James cut Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com raised Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $506.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total value of $133,435.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,390,984.84. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,243 shares of company stock worth $1,045,326 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.07% 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.