UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Purchases 2,272 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,243 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,272 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $22,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Avitas Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,327,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 746 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its stake in Moody’s by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $527,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 1,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $696,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,390,984.84. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on MCO shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $527.00.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $469.55 on Thursday. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.47 billion, a PE ratio of 41.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $486.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $480.25.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 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.