Fisher Asset Management LLC Invests $223,000 in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Fisher Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 471 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake 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 during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake 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 during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $461.97 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $489.67 and its 200-day moving average is $482.67. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The firm has a market cap of $83.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 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 analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Equities analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on MCO shares. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $528.77.

Moody’s Company 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.