LVW Advisors LLC Acquires 308 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

LVW Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,268 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 38.1% during the third quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 591,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $280,593,000 after buying an additional 163,135 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Moody’s by 14.3% during the third quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 592 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in Moody’s by 3.9% during the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,137 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $978,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s during the third quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s during the third quarter valued at approximately $208,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO traded up $4.55 during trading on Friday, hitting $473.95. 75,668 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 740,851. The company has a market cap of $86.31 billion, a PE ratio of 46.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $473.89 and a 200 day moving average of $431.69. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $298.86 and a 52-week high of $495.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.03% and a net margin of 28.34%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 11.46 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 33.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Moody’s from $443.00 to $454.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $487.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,619,386.22. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total value of $848,010.66. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,647.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total value of $252,783.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,931 shares of company stock worth $1,332,825 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.07% 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.