Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG Boosts Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 16.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 73,335 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,350 shares during the quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $34,715,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in Moody’s by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 11.2% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 62,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,858,000 after acquiring an additional 6,340 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 32.5% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,777,000 after acquiring an additional 3,510 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $6,775,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 567.2% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 80,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,338,000 after acquiring an additional 68,674 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $522.76 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.72 billion, a PE ratio of 47.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.31. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $484.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $478.15. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly 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 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.05%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,601,631.48. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 843 shares of company stock worth $405,455. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MCO. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Moody’s from $468.00 to $481.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $522.62.

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.