GFI Investment Counsel Ltd. Purchases 186 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

GFI Investment Counsel Ltd. raised its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 161,376 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the quarter. Moody’s comprises approximately 8.8% of GFI Investment Counsel Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. GFI Investment Counsel Ltd. owned 0.09% of Moody’s worth $76,391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 101.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s 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 completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MCO shares. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” 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 given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $527.00.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $465.82 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $83.80 billion, a PE ratio of 41.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $360.05 and a 52-week high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $485.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $479.92.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

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.