High Ground Investment Management LLP Purchases New Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

High Ground Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO – Get Rating) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 32,128 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,952,000. Moody’s accounts for 8.5% of High Ground Investment Management LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Moody’s by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,701,509 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,330,974,000 after acquiring an additional 35,737 shares in the last quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC now owns 5,659,712 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,909,643,000 after acquiring an additional 38,615 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,096,678 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,386,144,000 after acquiring an additional 50,289 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Moody’s by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,148,302 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $765,385,000 after acquiring an additional 249,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd boosted its position in Moody’s by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 1,874,769 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $522,348,000 after acquiring an additional 150,070 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.84% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE MCO traded down $3.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $294.25. The stock had a trading volume of 1,673,651 shares, compared to its average volume of 783,318. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $230.16 and a 1 year high of $346.22. The stock has a market cap of $53.93 billion, a PE ratio of 39.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $305.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $285.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.72.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.18. Moody’s had a net margin of 25.13% and a return on equity of 62.08%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 23rd. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 41.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Moody’s from $294.00 to $293.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Moody’s from $309.00 to $342.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Moody’s from $329.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.15, for a total transaction of $570,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,344,005.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 483 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $146,580.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $452,488.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.15, for a total transaction of $570,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 67,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,344,005.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,701 shares of company stock worth $7,046,117. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

About Moody’s

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Moody’s Corp. engages in the provision of credit ratings, research, tools and analysis to the global capital markets. It operates through the Moody’s Investors Service (MIS) and Moody’s Analytics (MA) segments. The MIS segment is a credit rating agency, which publishes credit ratings on debt obligations and the entities, including various corporate and governmental obligations, structured finance securities, and commercial paper programs.