UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Has $22.84 Million Stock Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,243 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,272 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $22,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 92,060.2% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 612,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $290,112,000 after acquiring an additional 612,200 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 73.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,131,656 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $534,255,000 after purchasing an additional 479,599 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 valued at $1,708,851,000 after purchasing an additional 416,535 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP grew its holdings in Moody’s by 510.8% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 422,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $200,058,000 after purchasing an additional 353,431 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth approximately $150,376,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $469.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $84.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.66, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $486.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $480.25.

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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. 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 0.80%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on MCO shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target 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. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $527.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total value of $133,435.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,390,984.84. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.14% 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.