Edgestream Partners L.P. Increases Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 82.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,413 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,254 shares during the quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $4,456,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,047,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,344,802,000 after acquiring an additional 63,556 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,123,294,000 after buying an additional 723,226 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,708,851,000 after buying an additional 416,535 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,107,344,000 after buying an additional 430,878 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Moody’s by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $985,115,000 after buying an additional 502,891 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $528.77.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.8 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $461.97 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $489.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $482.61.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.36%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were 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 directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.