Rossby Financial LCC Takes $213,000 Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at $12,387,000. Value Partners Investments Inc. increased its stake in Moody’s by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 5,220 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,471,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $442,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $297,000. Finally, Hanlon Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. now owns 942 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total value of $138,932.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,601,631.48. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,258 shares of company stock worth $610,936. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $437.80 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $470.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $475.49. The company has a market capitalization of $78.76 billion, a PE ratio of 38.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $360.05 and a twelve month high of $531.93.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 33.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America assumed coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $530.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup began coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $524.86.

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.