Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Increases Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 90.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,041 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,766 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $4,753,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 80.6% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $424.40 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $463.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $474.26. 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. The company has a market cap of $76.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38.

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 business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. Research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 33.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 1,392 shares of company stock worth $659,535 in the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $524.33.

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.