NEOS Investment Management LLC Grows Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 38.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,398 shares during the quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $4,111,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Moody’s by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,696,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,956,684,000 after acquiring an additional 63,820 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,047,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,344,802,000 after purchasing an additional 63,556 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 13.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 416,535 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,537,331 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $727,726,000 after buying an additional 53,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,369,998 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $650,187,000 after buying an additional 33,244 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.1 %

MCO opened at $469.44 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $485.86 and a 200 day moving average of $480.18. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The firm has a market cap of $84.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

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 return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on MCO. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of 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, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $527.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 in the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.