Asset Planning Inc Purchases New Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 88 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $42,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,047,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,344,802,000 after purchasing an additional 63,556 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 12.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,123,294,000 after purchasing an additional 723,226 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 13.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,708,851,000 after purchasing an additional 416,535 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 22.6% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,344,000 after purchasing an additional 430,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 32.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $985,115,000 after purchasing an additional 502,891 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO stock opened at $522.76 on Friday. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $484.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $478.15. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.72 billion, a PE ratio of 47.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.31.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. Analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.39 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 843 shares of company stock worth $405,455. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Moody’s from $468.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $522.62.

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.