Board of the Pension Protection Fund Buys Shares of 800 Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 800 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $379,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s during the third quarter worth $36,000. Asset Dedication LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 83.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 101.9% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,390,984.84. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,243 shares of company stock valued at $1,045,326. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $462.55 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $83.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $503.95. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $479.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $470.30.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.43 EPS. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on MCO shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James lowered shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $506.14.

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.