Xponance Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,320 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $22,497,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 272.2% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $453.54 on Tuesday. 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 twelve month low of $360.05 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $486.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $481.20. The stock has a market cap of $81.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. StockNews.com downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $527.00.

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.