First National Advisers LLC Purchases 267 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

First National Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,021 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. First National Advisers LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $3,324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GWN Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $261,000. Choate Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 1,991 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Van Strum & Towne Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. now owns 4,750 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the period. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 12,219 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,784,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $317,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 in the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO stock opened at $446.67 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $486.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $481.42. The stock has a market cap of $80.35 billion, a PE ratio of 39.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer raised their target price 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.