MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. Grows Stock Position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 137.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,937 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 30,078 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $24,585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Moody's by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,001 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $485,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,560 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $31,981,000 after purchasing an additional 4,544 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in shares of Moody's by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $8,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 994,384 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $470,712,000 after purchasing an additional 31,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burney Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,775,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on MCO. UBS Group lifted their price target on Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $530.00 target price on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.87.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares in the company, valued at $27,445,682. This trade represents a 0.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,111 shares of company stock valued at $520,603. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of Moody's stock traded up $1.82 on Friday, reaching $489.15. 504,501 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 771,917. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.00 billion, a PE ratio of 43.40, a PEG 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. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $449.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $472.42. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion for 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.