Sterling Capital Management LLC Has $3.19 Million Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,745 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 470 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $3,193,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $485,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Moody’s by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,981,000 after buying an additional 4,544 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased 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 buying an additional 1,164 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 11.2% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 62,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,858,000 after buying an additional 6,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 32.5% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,777,000 after acquiring an additional 3,510 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total transaction of $192,178.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,092,537.92. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 1,258 shares of company stock valued at $610,936 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.3 %

MCO stock opened at $428.55 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $471.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $475.72. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $524.86.

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.