Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Bought by EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 559 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Avitas Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,327,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Okabena Investment Services Inc. raised its holdings in Moody’s by 0.8% during the third quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,313,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Moody’s by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 746 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, Adero Partners LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 660 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. Mizuho began coverage on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $527.00.

Moody’s Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $446.67 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $531.93. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $486.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $481.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.35 billion, a PE ratio of 39.63, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. As a group, analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.36%.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,314,236.28. The trade was 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 through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.