NEOS Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 38.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,398 shares during the quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $4,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the third quarter worth about $273,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 722 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its stake in Moody’s by 31.9% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,051 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $499,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,880 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,367,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $527.00.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $469.44 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $485.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $480.18. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $360.05 and a 52-week high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $84.45 billion, a PE ratio of 41.65, 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 (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during 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, analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 33.36%.

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.