Proficio Capital Partners LLC Has $290.11 Million Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 92,060.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 612,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 612,200 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC owned 0.34% of Moody’s worth $290,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Haverford Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.8% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Moody’s by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 746 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $528.77.

Moody’s Price Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $498.05 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The company has a market capitalization of $89.65 billion, a PE ratio of 44.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $531.93. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $488.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $481.79.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its 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. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.