High Ground Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO – Get Rating ) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 32,128 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,952,000. Moody’s accounts for 8.5% of High Ground Investment Management LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding.
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Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Moody’s by 0.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,701,509 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,330,974,000 after acquiring an additional 35,737 shares in the last quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 0.7% during the first quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC now owns 5,659,712 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,909,643,000 after acquiring an additional 38,615 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 1.0% in the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,096,678 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,386,144,000 after acquiring an additional 50,289 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Moody’s by 8.6% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,148,302 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $765,385,000 after acquiring an additional 249,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd raised its position in Moody’s by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 1,874,769 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $522,348,000 after acquiring an additional 150,070 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.84% of the company’s shares.
Moody’s shares fell 1.2%
NYSE MCO traded down $3.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $294.25. The stock had a trading volume of 1,673,651 shares, compared to its average volume of 783,318. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $230.16 and a 1-year high of $346.22. The stock has a market cap of $53.93 billion, a PE ratio of 39.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $305.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $285.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 1.72, and a quick ratio of 1.72.
Moody’s (NYSE:MCO – Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.18. Moody’s had a net margin of 25.13% and a return on equity of 62.08%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ estimates of $1.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.33 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.2% year over year. On average, analysts expect Moody’s Co. to report 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.
Moody’s increases dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 23rd. This is a positive change from Moody’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents an annualized dividend of $3.08 and a yield of 1.05%. Moody’s payout ratio is currently 41.40%.
Wall Street analysts forecast growth
MCO has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Moody’s from $294.00 to $293.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $309.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $329.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $307.67, according to MarketBeat.com.
Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s
In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.15, for a total transaction of $570,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,344,005.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 483 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $146,580.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $452,488.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.15, for a total transaction of $570,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 67,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,344,005.70. Disclosure of this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,701 shares of company stock worth $7,046,117. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.
About Moody’s
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Moody’s Corp. is committed to providing credit ratings, research, tools and analysis in the global capital markets. It operates through Moody’s Investors Service (MIS) and Moody’s Analytics (MA) segments. The MIS segment is a credit rating agency that issues credit ratings of debt obligations and entities, including various corporate and government obligations, structured finance securities and commercial paper programs.
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