Mizuho Securities USA LLC Boosts Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 45.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,769 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,614 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $6,991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $459.73 on Friday. 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 50-day simple moving average of $485.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $480.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.70 billion, a PE ratio of 40.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $360.05 and a 52-week high of $531.93.

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. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 33.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’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. The trade was 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $527.00.

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.