Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Stock Position Lifted by Tobam

Tobam grew its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2,010.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 211 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Tobam’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $82,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Norges Bank bought a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $425,827,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 277.8% during the 3rd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,544,160 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $488,217,000 after buying an additional 1,135,463 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,994,497 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,112,947,000 after buying an additional 914,530 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new position in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $153,532,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 39.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,510,986 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $477,728,000 after buying an additional 429,473 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $383.53 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $387.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $366.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The company has a market capitalization of $69.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.93, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.27. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $296.45 and a 1-year high of $407.62.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.60 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 10.66 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Moody’s from $425.00 to $405.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays raised Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $375.00 to $450.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 2,547 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.50, for a total transaction of $958,945.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,368,273.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.07% of the stock is owned by 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.