DRW Securities LLC Buys Shares of 1,050 Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

DRW Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,050 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $497,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. APG Asset Management N.V. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 285.7% in the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 107,582 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $49,180,000 after buying an additional 79,689 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 3,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,566,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 45.2% during the fourth quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC now owns 10,360 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,904,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in Moody’s by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 98,880 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $46,844,000 after purchasing an additional 21,030 shares during the period. Finally, FIL Ltd increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 72,510 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,324,000 after purchasing an additional 2,399 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on MCO shares. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Moody’s in a report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $530.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup initiated coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of 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, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $524.86.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO opened at $422.65 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.50, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $472.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $476.05. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $531.93.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.36%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total value of $138,932.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,601,631.48. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,258 shares of company stock worth $610,936. 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.