Burney Co. Acquires Shares of 14,312 Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Burney Co. bought a new position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 14,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,775,000.

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

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,243 shares of company stock worth $1,045,326. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $473.91 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.28, a PEG 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. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $503.95. The business has a fifty day moving average of $479.92 and a 200 day moving average of $470.30.

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

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup began coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $506.14.

Moody’s 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.