Inkwell Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Inkwell Capital LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 6,959 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,294,000. Moody’s comprises approximately 3.5% of Inkwell Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $988,750,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 92,060.2% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 612,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $290,112,000 after purchasing an additional 612,200 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 73.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,131,656 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $534,255,000 after acquiring an additional 479,599 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,708,851,000 after purchasing an additional 416,535 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 510.8% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 422,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $200,058,000 after purchasing an additional 353,431 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 in the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO opened at $461.09 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.95 billion, a PE ratio of 40.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $485.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $480.00. 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 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 33.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on MCO shares. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $527.00.

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.