Hsbc Holdings PLC Acquires 16,167 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 471,245 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,167 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.26% of Moody’s worth $223,098,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 80.6% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares in the company, valued at $27,445,682. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,392 shares of company stock worth $659,535. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $414.02 on Tuesday. 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.74, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $461.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $473.94.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for 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%. 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 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 represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Moody’s from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $530.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.