ProShare Advisors LLC Acquires 6,932 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 23.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,029 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,932 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $17,528,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Accurate Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Moody's by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 668 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Moody's by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,503 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $711,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Moody's by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 3,212 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in Moody's in the fourth quarter worth $232,000. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Moody's by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,577 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,060,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total transaction of $146,738.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,321,046.80. This represents a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,111 shares of company stock worth $520,603. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $489.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $88.00 billion, a PE ratio of 43.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. Moody's Co. has a fifty-two week low of $378.71 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $449.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $472.33.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. Moody's had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. 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 disclosed 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 presently 32.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective 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. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Moody's from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.87.

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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