Mizuho Bank Ltd. Invests $66,000 in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 140 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $66,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 101.9% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total value of $192,178.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 62,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,092,537.92. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,258 shares of company stock valued at $610,936 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $401.74 on Friday. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $482.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $478.96. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $360.05 and a 52-week high of $531.93. The firm has a market cap of $72.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.65, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup began coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group raised their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $523.43.

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.