Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Holdings Increased by Stamos Capital Partners L.P.

Stamos Capital Partners L.P. increased its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 207.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,080 shares during the quarter. Stamos Capital Partners L.P.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Moody’s by 101.9% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,258 shares of company stock valued at $610,936 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup began coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $524.86.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $428.55 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $471.20 and its 200-day moving average is $475.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.09 billion, a PE ratio of 38.03, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 0.88%. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.36%.

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.