Burney Co. Makes New $6.78 Million Investment in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Burney Co. bought a new stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 14,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,775,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. State Street Corp raised its position in Moody’s by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,047,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,344,802,000 after purchasing an additional 63,556 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 12.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,123,294,000 after buying an additional 723,226 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 13.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,708,851,000 after buying an additional 416,535 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,107,344,000 after acquiring an additional 430,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $985,115,000 after acquiring an additional 502,891 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO stock opened at $473.91 on Wednesday. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $503.95. The firm has a market cap of $85.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.28, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $479.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $470.30.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. Moody’s’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.43 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total value of $133,435.66. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,390,984.84. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,243 shares of company stock worth $1,045,326 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MCO. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $506.14.

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.