Banco Santander S.A. Acquires 305 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Banco Santander S.A. raised its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 19,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $9,140,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in Moody’s by 6.6% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake 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 worth $29,858,000 after acquiring an additional 6,340 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,777,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burney Co. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,775,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $461.97 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $489.67 and a 200-day moving average of $482.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $528.77.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 over the last quarter. 0.07% 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.