Czech National Bank Grows Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,788 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,886 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $15,994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its position in Moody’s by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,047,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,344,802,000 after purchasing an additional 63,556 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 12.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,123,294,000 after purchasing an additional 723,226 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 13.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,708,851,000 after purchasing an additional 416,535 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 22.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,107,344,000 after purchasing an additional 430,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Moody’s by 32.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $985,115,000 after purchasing an additional 502,891 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $506.14.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of MCO opened at $458.17 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $479.92 and its 200 day moving average is $470.01. The company has a market capitalization of $83.02 billion, a PE ratio of 41.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 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. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.43 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 31.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, 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 value of $777,294.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total value of $133,435.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,390,984.84. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,243 shares of company stock valued at $1,045,326 in the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.