Waverly Advisors LLC Makes New $471,000 Investment in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Waverly Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 995 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $471,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at $988,750,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Moody's by 92,060.2% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 612,865 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $290,112,000 after buying an additional 612,200 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in Moody's by 73.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,131,656 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $534,255,000 after buying an additional 479,599 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Moody's during the fourth quarter worth about $150,376,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Moody's by 20.5% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Trading Up 0.6%

MCO stock traded up $2.86 during trading on Thursday, hitting $481.37. 422,499 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 768,290. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. The company has a 50-day moving average of $453.35 and a 200-day moving average of $473.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.60 billion, a PE ratio of 42.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. Moody's Co. has a 1 year low of $378.71 and a 1 year high of $531.93.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Analysts predict that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. 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 is currently 32.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MCO. Bank of America began coverage on Moody's in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird dropped 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 report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut 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 note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $520.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares in the company, valued at $27,445,682. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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.