Jones Financial Companies Lllp Grows Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 34.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,996 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $3,654,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 566.7% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Trading Down 4.2 %

MCO opened at $481.05 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $490.15 and its 200-day moving average is $482.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $360.05 and a 52-week high of $531.93.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.36%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total transaction of $146,738.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $528.77.

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.