Plato Investment Management Ltd Purchases 646 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 113.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its position in Moody’s by 566.7% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 272.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity 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 transaction of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 4.2 %

MCO opened at $481.05 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $86.59 billion, a PE ratio of 42.68, 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. The business has a 50 day moving average of $490.15 and a 200-day moving average of $482.75. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. Equities research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors 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 yield of 0.78%. 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 (DPR) is 33.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on MCO. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $528.77.

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.