DF Dent & Co. Inc. Has $213.88 Million Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

DF Dent & Co. Inc. cut its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 451,821 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 29,729 shares during the period. Moody’s accounts for approximately 2.7% of DF Dent & Co. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. DF Dent & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of Moody’s worth $213,879,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Avitas Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 0.8% during 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 period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew 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 valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 746 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total value of $192,178.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,092,537.92. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,258 shares of company stock worth $610,936 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $527.00.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $471.66 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $484.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $479.80. 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 company has a market capitalization of $84.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $531.93.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 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.