Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Purchased by Huntington National Bank

Huntington National Bank increased its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,331 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,997,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Moody’s by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,981,000 after acquiring an additional 4,544 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in Moody’s by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,861,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in Moody’s by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 62,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,858,000 after acquiring an additional 6,340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 32.5% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,777,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO stock opened at $471.66 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $484.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $479.80. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a market capitalization of $84.85 billion, a PE ratio of 41.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

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 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 analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. On average, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MCO shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $527.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total value of $192,178.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,092,537.92. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,258 shares of company stock worth $610,936 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% 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.