Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Holdings Lifted by GFI Investment Counsel Ltd.

GFI Investment Counsel Ltd. raised its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 161,376 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. Moody’s accounts for 8.8% of GFI Investment Counsel Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. GFI Investment Counsel Ltd.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $76,391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MCO. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,882 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,990,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG lifted its holdings in Moody’s by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 14,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,777,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 136,873 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $64,792,000 after purchasing an additional 26,702 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 26,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,417,000 after purchasing an additional 1,127 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 on the stock. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $527.00.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $133,087.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, 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 at this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $465.82 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $485.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $479.92. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. On average, equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a $0.94 dividend. This is a boost 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 dividend yield of 0.81%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Moody’s 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.