Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Invests $474,000 in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 995 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $474,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. FMR LLC grew 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 worth $3,123,294,000 after buying an additional 723,226 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $985,115,000 after buying an additional 502,891 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 22.6% in 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 buying an additional 430,878 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 worth $1,708,851,000 after buying an additional 416,535 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 510.8% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 422,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $200,058,000 after buying an additional 353,431 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup started coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $528.77.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $500.93 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $487.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $481.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.45, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. On average, equities analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.36%.

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.