Korea Investment CORP Buys 12,019 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Korea Investment CORP grew its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 111,211 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,019 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $52,644,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MCO. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund now owns 77,626 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,746,000 after purchasing an additional 7,590 shares during the period. Summitry LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 74,161 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,106,000 after buying an additional 1,025 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 2,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,309,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 1,534 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $727,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 606,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $287,199,000 after acquiring an additional 106,815 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on MCO shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup began coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $527.00.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $469.44 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $485.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $480.18. The stock has a market cap of $84.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.65, 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 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $1.67 billion during 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.36%.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,390,984.84. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s 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.