Freedom Investment Management Inc. Has $675,000 Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 15.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 80.6% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America assumed coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $530.00 price target for the company. UBS Group lifted their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $524.33.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $424.40 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $463.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $474.22. The company has a market cap of $76.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.66, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.36%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,392 shares of company stock valued at $659,535. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Moody’s

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.