Xponance Inc. Grows Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 47,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,320 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $22,497,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in 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 in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $527.00.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $453.54 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $486.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $481.20. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $360.05 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The company has a market capitalization of $81.59 billion, a PE ratio of 40.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. 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 (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.36%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.