BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments Acquires New Shares in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments purchased a new stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 50,000 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $23,680,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in Moody's during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in Moody's in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in Moody's during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 80.6% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total transaction of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares in the company, valued at $27,445,682. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,111 shares of company stock valued at $520,603. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $530.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.87.

Moody's Price Performance

MCO stock traded up $5.73 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $468.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 827,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 771,367. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $448.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $471.68. Moody's Co. has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody's had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. On average, analysts expect that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.47%.

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.