Vise Technologies Inc. Has $1.55 Million Position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 92.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,268 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,574 shares during the quarter. Vise Technologies Inc.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $1,547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 80.6% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $66,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Moody's from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $520.87.

Insider Activity

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,092,537.92. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody's Trading Up 0.2%

MCO stock traded up $1.19 during trading on Thursday, hitting $479.70. The company had a trading volume of 125,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 767,125. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $453.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $473.22. Moody's Co. has a 12 month low of $378.71 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The stock has a market cap of $86.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.57, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. As a group, analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.47%.

Moody's Company 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.