Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Buys Shares of 1,060 Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,060 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $502,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in Moody’s by 566.7% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Moody’s by 272.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $528.77.

Moody’s Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $503.63 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $90.65 billion, a PE ratio of 44.69, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $489.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $482.30.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,321,046.80. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.