J2 Capital Management Inc Buys Shares of 537 Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

J2 Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 537 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $254,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 74,000.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 724,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $343,935,000 after purchasing an additional 723,721 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 12.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,123,294,000 after buying an additional 723,226 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $985,115,000 after buying an additional 502,891 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,107,344,000 after buying an additional 430,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 13.0% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 416,535 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $506.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value of $134,596.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,524 shares of company stock valued at $1,178,413. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO opened at $475.74 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $480.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $470.75. The firm has a market cap of $86.20 billion, a PE ratio of 43.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $503.95.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.43 EPS. Moody’s’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

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.