Mystic Asset Management Inc. Purchases 348 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Mystic Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 11.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,348 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. Mystic Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,585,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price for the company. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $527.00.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.5 %

Moody’s stock opened at $453.54 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The company has a market capitalization of $81.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $486.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $481.20.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid 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 0.83%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.