11,694 Shares in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO) Acquired by Raiffeisen Bank International AG

Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new position in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 11,694 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,537,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,696,081 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,956,684,000 after purchasing an additional 63,820 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,799 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,738,645,000 after purchasing an additional 68,627 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Moody's in the 4th quarter valued at $988,750,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,776,729 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $841,050,000 after purchasing an additional 302,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,537,331 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $727,726,000 after purchasing an additional 53,504 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:MCO traded up $3.25 on Monday, hitting $492.15. 551,525 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 771,035. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. Moody's Co. has a 52 week low of $378.71 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. The company's 50-day moving average price is $449.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $472.55.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion during 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid 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 0.76%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on MCO. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Moody's from $475.00 to $456.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Moody's in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price target on the stock. Finally, William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Moody's in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.87.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total value of $192,178.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,092,537.92. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,111 shares of company stock valued at $520,603 in the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.