Rafferty Asset Management LLC Acquires 1,881 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 54,975 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,881 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $26,024,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,696,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,956,684,000 after purchasing an additional 63,820 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,799 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,738,645,000 after purchasing an additional 68,627 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $988,750,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Moody’s by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,776,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $841,050,000 after acquiring an additional 302,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Moody’s by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,537,331 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $727,726,000 after acquiring an additional 53,504 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Trading Up 2.0%

NYSE MCO opened at $488.42 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $448.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $472.13. The stock has a market cap of $87.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $378.71 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.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total transaction of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,445,682. This trade represents a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,111 shares of company stock valued at $520,603 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Moody’s from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price for the company. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $515.87.

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.