QRG Capital Management Inc. Raises Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,395 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,288 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $8,234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 63,556 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 12.3% during the third 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $1,708,851,000 after buying an additional 416,535 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 430,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 32.0% during 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 acquiring 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 firms have weighed in on MCO. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $528.77.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $493.65 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $488.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $481.88. 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 firm has a market cap of $88.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 33.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 over the last quarter. Company 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.