Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Purchases Shares of 3,034 Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,034 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,413,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Moody's during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Moody's during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Moody's by 80.6% during 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. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new position in Moody's during the 4th quarter worth about $66,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in Moody's during the 4th quarter worth about $67,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of a number of research reports. 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. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho initiated coverage on Moody's in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Moody's from $489.00 to $523.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $519.40.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,445,682. 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 accessible through this link. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded down $9.44 during trading on Friday, reaching $471.57. 471,871 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 763,490. 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 $84.84 billion, a PE ratio of 41.84, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $461.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $473.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. Research analysts expect that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

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