815 Shares in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Bought by Kera Capital Partners Inc.

Kera Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 815 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $386,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Smith Salley Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 9,708 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,595,000 after purchasing an additional 593 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,181 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,506,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $230,000. Canoe Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 510.8% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 422,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $200,058,000 after acquiring an additional 353,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 81.2% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 3,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,667 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $475.74 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $480.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $470.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market cap of $86.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.45, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.30. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $503.95.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The company’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.43 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on MCO. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 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. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $506.14.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,524 shares of company stock valued at $1,178,413 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.