AKO Capital LLP Has $309.29 Million Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

AKO Capital LLP lowered its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 653,387 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 30,073 shares during the period. Moody’s comprises about 4.3% of AKO Capital LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. AKO Capital LLP’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $309,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Moody’s by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $485,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,981,000 after buying an additional 4,544 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in Moody’s by 6.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,164 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in Moody’s by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 62,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,858,000 after purchasing an additional 6,340 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 3,510 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $469.55 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $486.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $480.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $84.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued 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. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price target for the company. UBS Group increased their target price 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. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $527.00.

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.