Cetera Investment Advisers Acquires 1,598 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,344 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,598 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Moody's were worth $10,577,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Moody's by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,696,081 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,956,684,000 after buying an additional 63,820 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,799 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,738,645,000 after acquiring an additional 68,627 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth about $988,750,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Moody's by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,776,729 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $841,050,000 after acquiring an additional 302,453 shares during the period. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody's by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,537,331 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $727,726,000 after purchasing an additional 53,504 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,824 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available at this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,111 shares of company stock valued at $520,603. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moody's Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of MCO stock traded down $2.03 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $485.03. 477,070 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 773,975. The stock has a market cap of $87.26 billion, a PE ratio of 43.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $447.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $471.90. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $531.93.

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

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given 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 dividend yield of 0.78%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group increased their target price on Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.87.

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.