Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. Buys New Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 486 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $230,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 22.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 24,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,272,000 after acquiring an additional 4,548 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in Moody’s by 19.8% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 9,746 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,102,000 after purchasing an additional 1,608 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 19.5% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,483 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 87.0% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 106,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,780,000 after purchasing an additional 49,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1,345.8% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,015 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,058,000 after buying an additional 11,184 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $506.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,524 shares of company stock valued at $1,178,413 over the last ninety days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.7 %

MCO stock opened at $475.74 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $86.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $480.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $471.06. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $503.95.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.43 EPS. Analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 12.17 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.05%.

Moody’s 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.