denkapparat Operations GmbH Makes New $272,000 Investment in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

denkapparat Operations GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 574 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $272,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MCO. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 272.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s 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 owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MCO shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. 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 research report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective on the stock. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $527.00.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO stock opened at $469.44 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $84.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $485.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $480.18. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

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.