Quantinno Capital Management LP Buys 1,516 Shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 12.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,661 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,516 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP's holdings in Moody's were worth $6,467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in Moody's during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Moody's during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Moody's by 80.6% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody's Stock Performance

Moody's stock traded down $5.50 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $486.60. The company had a trading volume of 382,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 770,885. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Moody's Co. has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The company has a 50 day moving average of $450.09 and a 200-day moving average of $472.80. The firm has a market cap of $87.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.18, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody's had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued 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 0.77%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 62,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,445,682. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Moody's from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.