Fortis Capital Management LLC Purchases 66 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Fortis Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,708 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the quarter. Fortis Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,702,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised 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 during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 12.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,123,294,000 after purchasing an additional 723,226 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 13.0% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 416,535 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,537,331 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $727,726,000 after purchasing an additional 53,504 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.5% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,369,998 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $650,187,000 after purchasing an additional 33,244 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $459.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $82.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.79, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. 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 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $485.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $480.44.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. On average, analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. 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, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $527.00.

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.