Capital Investment Advisors LLC Has $1.51 Million Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 19.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,244 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 518 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $988,750,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 55,808.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 802,850 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $373,879,000 after acquiring an additional 801,414 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 92,060.2% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 612,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $290,112,000 after buying an additional 612,200 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 73.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,131,656 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $534,255,000 after buying an additional 479,599 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $150,376,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $485.72 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $87.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.10, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $455.73 and a 200-day moving average of $473.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.47%.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,445,682. This trade represents a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $489.00 to $523.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $519.40.

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.