Horizon Investments LLC Has $1.17 Million Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Horizon Investments LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the quarter. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,168,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MCO. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 272.2% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup began coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $527.00.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $460.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $82.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.84, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The company has a 50 day moving average of $485.69 and a 200-day moving average of $480.79.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.