Congress Asset Management Co. Has $106.47 Million Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Congress Asset Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 224,928 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,183 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $106,474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,537,331 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $727,726,000 after buying an additional 53,504 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 73,335 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,715,000 after buying an additional 10,350 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 133,505 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $63,197,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $522.76 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $484.94 and its 200-day moving average is $478.65. 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 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. The company has a market cap of $94.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.74, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.31.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 31.05%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,390,984.84. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 843 shares of company stock worth $405,455. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $468.00 to $481.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $522.62.

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.