Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Grows Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 15.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,096 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Andra AP fonden purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth about $10,840,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 82.5% during the fourth quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 9,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,456,000 after purchasing an additional 4,254 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $283,000. Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $1,573,000. Finally, E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,509 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $714,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on MCO shares. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup started coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $528.77.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $461.97 on Monday. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $360.05 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $489.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $482.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.15 billion, a PE ratio of 40.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 in the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.