GAMMA Investing LLC Grows Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 34.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,436 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 2.6% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 70,148 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,527,000 after acquiring an additional 1,806 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Moody’s by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,538 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $27,587,000 after purchasing an additional 2,404 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in Moody’s by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 47,633 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $20,050,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Moody’s by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 24,244 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,205,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 10.6% in the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,437 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,446,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MCO. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James lowered Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $506.14.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $479.15 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.82 billion, a PE ratio of 43.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.30. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $503.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $479.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $467.52.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.05%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total value of $133,435.66. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,390,984.84. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,243 shares of company stock valued at $1,045,326 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

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.