Rafferty Asset Management LLC Purchases 1,881 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 54,975 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,881 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $26,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $988,750,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 92,060.2% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 612,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $290,112,000 after purchasing an additional 612,200 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 73.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,131,656 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $534,255,000 after purchasing an additional 479,599 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 510.8% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 422,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $200,058,000 after purchasing an additional 353,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $150,376,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $488.42 on Friday. 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 $378.71 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s 50-day moving average is $448.18 and its 200 day moving average is $472.13.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is currently 32.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $530.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $515.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,690 shares in the company, valued at $27,445,682. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 1,111 shares of company stock worth $520,603 in the last three months. Corporate 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.