Korea Investment CORP Buys 12,019 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Korea Investment CORP lifted its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 12.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,211 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,019 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.06% of Moody’s worth $52,644,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Moody’s during the third quarter valued at approximately $273,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 722 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 31.9% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,051 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $499,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the period. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in Moody’s by 9.4% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,880 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,367,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,390,984.84. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $469.44 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.65, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $485.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $480.18. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during 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%. Equities analysts forecast 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 was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MCO. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho began coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” 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. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $527.00.

Moody’s 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.