Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its position in Moody’s by 566.7% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 272.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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 Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,321,046.80. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 in the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $461.97 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $83.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $489.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $482.72.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. Equities 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 will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.94 dividend. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus 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.