Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Purchased by Natixis

Natixis grew its position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 76.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 61,807 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 26,766 shares during the quarter. Natixis' holdings in Moody's were worth $29,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MCO. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Moody's by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,001 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $485,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Moody's by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,560 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $31,981,000 after buying an additional 4,544 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in Moody's by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $8,861,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in Moody's by 11.2% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 62,913 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $29,858,000 after purchasing an additional 6,340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody's by 3.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 31,780 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody's 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 1,392 shares of company stock valued at $659,535 in the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody's Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO traded up $7.15 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $437.92. 343,211 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 777,760. The company's 50 day moving average price is $458.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $473.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.86, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. Moody's Co. has a 52-week low of $360.05 and a 52-week high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 forecast that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Moody's from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.87.

About Moody's

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.