Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Acquires New Shares in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. acquired a new stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,301 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,089,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $485,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in Moody’s by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,981,000 after acquiring an additional 4,544 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in Moody’s by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,861,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Moody’s by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 994,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $470,712,000 after acquiring an additional 31,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burney Co. acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth $6,775,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $479.13 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $86.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.51, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $447.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $471.95. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 32.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MCO. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $530.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $515.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total transaction of $146,738.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. This represents a 0.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,111 shares of company stock valued at $520,603. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.