KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Acquires Shares of 89,161 Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 89,161 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $42,206,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Moody’s during the third quarter valued at approximately $273,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Moody’s by 1.9% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $656,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 28.0% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 9,073 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,306,000 after purchasing an additional 1,984 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.3% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,968 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,629,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. boosted its position in Moody’s by 7.6% during the third quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 19,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,019,000 after acquiring an additional 1,339 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $527.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $459.73 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $82.70 billion, a PE ratio of 40.79, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a fifty day moving average of $485.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $480.45. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $360.05 and a 52-week high of $531.93. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.94 dividend. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

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.