D.A. Davidson & CO. Has $1.52 Million Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 11.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,206 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 326 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,518,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 12.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Moody’s by 32.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 22.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 worth $1,708,851,000 after buying an additional 416,535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP raised its holdings 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 valued at $200,058,000 after purchasing an additional 353,431 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $499.62 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $487.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $480.92. 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 $89.93 billion, a PE ratio of 44.33, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Equities research analysts predict 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 given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MCO. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $528.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.