Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Acquired by Carderock Capital Management Inc.

Carderock Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 34.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,346 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,983 shares during the period. Moody's comprises approximately 2.1% of Carderock Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Carderock Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Moody's were worth $7,556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MCO. First Foundation Advisors lifted its position in Moody's by 3.8% in the second quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 825 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. IMS Capital Management lifted its position in Moody's by 0.7% in the second quarter. IMS Capital Management now owns 4,310 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,499,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Wealthsource Partners LLC lifted its position in Moody's by 0.9% in the third quarter. Wealthsource Partners LLC now owns 3,522 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in Moody's by 2.0% in the third quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,580 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $499,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Realta Investment Advisors lifted its position in Moody's by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Realta Investment Advisors now owns 997 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MCO shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Moody's from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Moody's from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $411.00 to $424.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $397.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 2,547 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.50, for a total value of $958,945.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,099 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,368,273.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Down 0.2 %

MCO stock traded down $0.87 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $391.57. 892,625 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 729,505. The company has a market capitalization of $71.46 billion, a PE ratio of 44.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01. Moody's Co. has a twelve month low of $290.98 and a twelve month high of $407.62. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $387.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $364.58.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 55.23% and a net margin of 27.16%. Moody's's revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 10.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a positive change from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Moody's's payout ratio is 38.95%.

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.