Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Bought by Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,572 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $31,040,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Moody’s by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,047,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,344,802,000 after purchasing an additional 63,556 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 12.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,123,294,000 after purchasing an additional 723,226 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 13.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,708,851,000 after acquiring an additional 416,535 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 22.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,344,000 after purchasing an additional 430,878 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Moody’s by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $985,115,000 after buying an additional 502,891 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price 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, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $528.77.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO opened at $498.05 on Thursday. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $488.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $481.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.65 billion, a PE ratio of 44.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $360.05 and a 52-week high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced 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. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict 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 will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders 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 represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 in the last ninety days. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.