Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Purchases 64,201 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 4,020.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 65,798 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 64,201 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $31,147,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC grew its position in Moody's by 17.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 452,970 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $214,976,000 after purchasing an additional 67,486 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Moody's by 1,506.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 220,279 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $104,774,000 after purchasing an additional 206,570 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in Moody's by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 3,095 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,465,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its position in Moody's by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 1,341 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $635,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Moody's by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,466 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,967,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $530.00 target price for the company. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.87.

Moody's Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO traded up $9.70 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $480.37. 342,222 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 771,247. Moody's Co. has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $446.66 and a 200 day moving average of $471.63.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. Moody's's payout ratio is presently 32.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In related 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,111 shares of company stock valued at $520,603. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.