Unigestion Holding SA Acquires 2,700 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Unigestion Holding SA grew its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 58.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,294 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $3,453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MCO. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 101.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. 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. Oppenheimer lifted 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $523.43.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total transaction of $192,178.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,824 shares in the company, valued at $29,092,537.92. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,258 shares of company stock valued at $610,936. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $401.74 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $72.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. 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 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $482.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $478.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.36%.

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.