UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Grows Holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,590,679 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 220,681 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned about 0.88% of Moody's worth $752,980,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in Moody's by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 2,020 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $956,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Moody's by 81.2% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 3,720 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,667 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moody's in the 4th quarter worth about $230,000. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Moody's by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,181 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,506,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Moody's by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,180 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $559,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho began coverage on Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of 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 assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody's currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $515.87.

Insider Activity at Moody's

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,445,682. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody's Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE:MCO opened at $492.15 on Tuesday. Moody's Co. has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.67, a PEG 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 business's fifty day moving average price is $450.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $472.80.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 forecast that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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