Dearborn Partners LLC Makes New $258,000 Investment in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Dearborn Partners LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 546 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MCO. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its position in Moody’s by 566.7% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,321,046.80. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $528.77.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $444.11 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The business has a 50 day moving average of $488.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $482.26. The company has a market cap of $79.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.41, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The firm 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 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.36%.

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.