Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Acquires 8,701 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 102,956 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,701 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $48,736,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Moody’s in the third quarter valued at $273,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% in the 3rd 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. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,880 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,367,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 44.3% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 2,318 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,100,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Moody’s by 4.2% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,333 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,582,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $461.09 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $485.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $480.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.91, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $531.93.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $527.00.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.