Prudential PLC Acquires 20,024 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Prudential PLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 167.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,966 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,024 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $15,132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 164.1% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 1,436 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,676 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 4,300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 3,124 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,483,000 after buying an additional 3,053 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter worth $307,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 6.2% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,176 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $558,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in Moody’s by 3.6% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 67,999 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,272,000 after purchasing an additional 2,343 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $401.74 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $72.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $482.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $478.96. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two 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.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during 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, sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Mizuho initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lowered their target price on Moody’s from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $523.43.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,321,046.80. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,258 shares of company stock valued at $610,936. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.