Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Bought by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,395 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,288 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $8,234,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.9% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,677,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $225,000. Avitas Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,320,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its position in Moody’s by 20.8% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 4,799 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,277,000 after acquiring an additional 827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 5.2% during the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 1,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. BMO Capital Markets upped 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $528.77.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $493.65 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $488.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $481.88. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $360.05 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The company has a market capitalization of $88.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. 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 released its 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. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.