Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Acquired by Prosperity Consulting Group LLC

Prosperity Consulting Group LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,304 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $617,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $485,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Moody’s by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,981,000 after acquiring an additional 4,544 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 994,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $470,712,000 after purchasing an additional 31,780 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,777,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,321,046.80. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,392 shares of company stock valued at $659,535. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $530.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Moody’s from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $515.87.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $438.86 on Monday. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $454.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $473.03. The company has a market cap of $78.95 billion, a PE ratio of 38.94, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. On average, analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 32.47%.

Moody’s Company 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.