Gabelli Funds LLC Increases Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Gabelli Funds LLC raised its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 12.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,140 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,701 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $24,208,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Moody’s by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,696,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,956,684,000 after purchasing an additional 63,820 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,799 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,738,645,000 after buying an additional 68,627 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $988,750,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Moody’s by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,537,331 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $727,726,000 after acquiring an additional 53,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in Moody’s by 73.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,131,656 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $534,255,000 after acquiring an additional 479,599 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $434.23 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $468.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $475.20. 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. The stock has a market cap of $78.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.53, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released 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 company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. On average, analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,321,046.80. 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 977 shares of company stock worth $477,848. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Moody’s from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $524.86.

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.