Avanza Fonder AB Invests $5.71 Million in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 12,052 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,705,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Haverford Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.8% in the third quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 1,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 2.1% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. boosted its position in Moody’s by 0.8% during the third quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,313,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 984 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, Adero Partners LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 660 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MCO. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James downgraded Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $506.14.

Insider Activity

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,524 shares of company stock valued at $1,178,413. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $480.95 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $503.95. The stock has a market cap of $87.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.75, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $480.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $470.31.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.43 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 12.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

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.