E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,509 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 204 shares during the quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its position in Moody’s by 566.7% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 272.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $528.77.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $461.97 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $489.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $482.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.99, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. Equities 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 33.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total transaction of $146,738.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

About Moody’s

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.