Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Purchased by Dark Forest Capital Management LP

Dark Forest Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 209.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,404 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,982 shares during the quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,085,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 17.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 452,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $214,976,000 after buying an additional 67,486 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 210.4% in the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 15,612 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,409,000 after acquiring an additional 10,582 shares during the period. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,989,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its position in Moody’s by 29.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 5,399 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,562,000 after purchasing an additional 1,222 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 538.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 55,544 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,361,000 after purchasing an additional 46,843 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total transaction of $146,738.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,321,046.80. 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 through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,392 shares of company stock valued at $659,535. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Moody’s from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $524.33.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $430.56 on Wednesday. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $77.45 billion, a PE ratio of 38.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $460.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $473.64. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. 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.