Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Acquired by Ameriprise Financial Inc.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 16.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 227,228 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 32,633 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Moody's worth $107,548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Moody's by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,001 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $485,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Moody's by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,560 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $31,981,000 after buying an additional 4,544 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in Moody's by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $8,861,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 994,384 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $470,712,000 after acquiring an additional 31,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody's by 32.5% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,777,000 after acquiring an additional 3,510 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,111 shares of company stock valued at $520,603. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. 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 research note on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Moody's from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $515.87.

Moody's Stock Down 0.1 %

Moody's stock traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $471.15. 613,071 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 772,899. The business has a fifty day moving average of $446.66 and a 200 day moving average of $471.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. Moody's Co. has a 12-month low of $378.71 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The firm has a market cap of $84.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.81, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. 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 currently 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.