Sora Investors LLC Invests $3.38 Million in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Sora Investors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 7,143 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,381,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 80.6% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of MCO opened at $488.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $87.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.34, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $448.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $472.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93.

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

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total transaction of $146,738.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,321,046.80. The trade was a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,111 shares of company stock worth $520,603. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $530.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Moody’s from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $515.87.

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.