Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Stock Holdings Lifted by Meeder Advisory Services Inc.

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,841,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MCO. Avitas Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 746 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MCO. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer raised 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. Citigroup initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $527.00.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $30,601,631.48. This represents 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,258 shares of company stock valued at $610,936. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $471.66 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $84.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $484.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $479.80. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. On average, equities analysts predict 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 was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

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.