Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Acquired by Miracle Mile Advisors LLC

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 26.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,169 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,085 shares during the quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 272.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Asset Dedication LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 83.0% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 101.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,390,984.84. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,243 shares of company stock valued at $1,045,326. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $458.17 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.84, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.30. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $503.95. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $479.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $470.01.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.43 EPS. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MCO. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Raymond James lowered shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $506.14.

About Moody’s

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.