Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) is Alapocas Investment Partners Inc.’s 9th Largest Position

Alapocas Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,166 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 53 shares during the quarter. Moody’s comprises about 5.9% of Alapocas Investment Partners Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Alapocas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $10,493,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 101.9% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.3 %

MCO stock opened at $428.55 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $471.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $475.72. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The firm has a market cap of $77.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.03, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $530.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $524.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total transaction of $138,932.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,601,631.48. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 1,258 shares of company stock worth $610,936 in the last three months. 0.14% 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.