MONECO Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

MONECO Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 16.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 535 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $253,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its stake in Moody’s by 566.7% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 272.2% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $501.77 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $487.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $481.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.52, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.36%.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MCO. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group upped their price target on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $528.77.

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.