Boston Family Office LLC Has $273,000 Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Boston Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 21.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 576 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Boston Family Office LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $273,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avitas Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 746 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE MCO opened at $468.29 on Wednesday. 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 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The company has a market capitalization of $84.24 billion, a PE ratio of 41.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $485.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $479.86.

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. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. Research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total transaction of $146,738.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,321,046.80. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on MCO. 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 shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $527.00.

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.