Redmond Asset Management LLC Purchases 74 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Redmond Asset Management LLC raised its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,442 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Redmond Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,156,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position 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 valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in Moody’s by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,861,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in Moody’s by 11.2% in 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 buying an additional 6,340 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 32.5% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,777,000 after buying an additional 3,510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burney Co. bought a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at $6,775,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $499.62 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $487.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $480.70. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The company has a market capitalization of $89.93 billion, a PE ratio of 44.33, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $528.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 in the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.