Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Position Reduced by NewEdge Wealth LLC

NewEdge Wealth LLC cut its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,730 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 47 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,974,432 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,418,296,000 after purchasing an additional 88,667 shares in the last quarter. Akre Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 0.7% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 38,615 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 5.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,301,253 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,359,927,000 after purchasing an additional 205,800 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Moody’s by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,994,497 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,112,947,000 after purchasing an additional 914,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 1.5% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,789,339 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $851,276,000 after purchasing an additional 41,746 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 2,547 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.50, for a total value of $958,945.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,368,273.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Moody’s from $362.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Moody’s from $455.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Moody’s from $425.00 to $405.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Moody’s from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $375.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $397.75.

Moody’s Price Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $377.16 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.20, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $296.45 and a 1 year high of $407.62. The business has a 50-day moving average of $386.70 and a 200-day moving average of $367.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.33 by ($0.14). Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.60 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 10.67 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.85 dividend. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 38.95%.

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.