Graypoint LLC Grows Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Graypoint LLC grew its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,004 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in Moody’s by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,047,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,344,802,000 after buying an additional 63,556 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,123,294,000 after acquiring an additional 723,226 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,708,851,000 after acquiring an additional 416,535 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,107,344,000 after purchasing an additional 430,878 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Moody’s by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $985,115,000 after purchasing an additional 502,891 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,390,984.84. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,243 shares of company stock valued at $1,045,326. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MCO. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $506.14.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO stock opened at $452.47 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $479.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $469.38. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $503.95. The firm has a market cap of $81.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.43 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 31.05%.

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.