Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Stake Boosted by Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,290 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $8,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MCO. HUB Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $394,000. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in Moody’s by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,886 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $893,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 42.4% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 92,304 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,694,000 after purchasing an additional 27,484 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 72,410 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,277,000 after purchasing an additional 4,411 shares during the period. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 8,056 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,815,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $459.57 on Friday. 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 $82.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.78, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $485.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $480.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. Research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This is an increase 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 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upped 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. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $527.00.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.