Inkwell Capital LLC Makes New $3.29 Million Investment in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Inkwell Capital LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 6,959 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,294,000. Moody’s makes up about 3.5% of Inkwell Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 272.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on MCO. Mizuho started coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One equities 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $527.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 in the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $461.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $82.95 billion, a PE ratio of 40.91, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $485.56 and a 200 day moving average of $480.00. 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.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. On average, research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.