United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Purchases 7,590 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund increased its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 10.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 77,626 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,590 shares during the period. Moody’s comprises 1.4% of United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $36,746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avitas Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in 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 valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $527,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $696,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus increased 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. UBS Group raised their price target on 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 increased their target price on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $527.00.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.8 %

MCO opened at $477.52 on Wednesday. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $486.09 and a 200 day moving average of $480.33. The firm has a market cap of $85.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 33.36%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. 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 this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.