Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Makes New $9.02 Million Investment in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 19,058 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,021,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Avitas Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. raised its holdings in Moody’s by 0.8% in 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 during the period. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Moody’s by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 746 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional boosted its stake in Moody’s by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $527,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MCO. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $527.00.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $453.54 on Tuesday. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The stock has a market cap of $81.59 billion, a PE ratio of 40.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $486.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $481.20.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. 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 presently 33.36%.

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.