Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd Boosts Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 56.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,747 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,421 shares during the quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $3,194,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its position in Moody’s by 566.7% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,390,984.84. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 in the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $498.05 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.65 billion, a PE ratio of 44.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $360.05 and a 52-week high of $531.93. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $488.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $481.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for 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 forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on MCO. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup assumed coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $528.77.

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.