Versant Capital Management Inc Purchases 157 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 206.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 233 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $110,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Haverford Trust Co increased its position in Moody’s by 1.8% in the third quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 1,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $525,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 984 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $467,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adero Partners LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 3.8% in the third quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 660 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.3 %

MCO opened at $479.15 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $503.95. The company has a market capitalization of $86.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.76, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $479.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $467.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released 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. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.43 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. Raymond James downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $506.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,243 shares of company stock valued at $1,045,326 over the last 90 days. Corporate 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.