NorthRock Partners LLC Purchases 1,111 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

NorthRock Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 180.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,111 shares during the quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its position in Moody’s by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 6,869 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,252,000 after acquiring an additional 1,168 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $122,000. Napa Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $998,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 137.6% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 51,937 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $24,585,000 after buying an additional 30,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moore Capital Management LP raised its position in Moody’s by 2,046.6% in the 4th quarter. Moore Capital Management LP now owns 21,638 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,243,000 after buying an additional 20,630 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $488.42 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.87 billion, a PE ratio of 43.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $448.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $472.13. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays decreased 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Moody’s from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $515.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,445,682. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 1,111 shares of company stock worth $520,603 in the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.