SBI Securities Co. Ltd. Invests $281,000 in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 594 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 over the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $528.77.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $482.12 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $86.78 billion, a PE ratio of 42.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $490.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $482.75. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.