Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Holdings Lifted by Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 172 shares during the quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $664,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Haverford Trust Co grew its stake in Moody’s by 1.8% in the third quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 1,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. grew its stake in Moody’s by 0.8% in the third quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Moody’s by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 746 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $481.05 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $490.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $482.75. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $360.05 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The company has a market cap of $86.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.68, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. 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 (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total value of $133,435.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,390,984.84. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 in the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MCO. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $528.77.

About Moody’s

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.