155 Shares in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Bought by Whipplewood Advisors LLC

Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 155 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $73,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Pension Service raised its stake in Moody’s by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 415,275 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $196,579,000 after acquiring an additional 70,599 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,096,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 4,481 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,121,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 393.0% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 277,040 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $131,142,000 after buying an additional 220,845 shares during the period. Finally, FourThought Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth $342,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $503.63 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.65 billion, a PE ratio of 44.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $360.05 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $489.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $482.18.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.36%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was 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 owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 over the last ninety days. 0.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the topic of several recent research reports. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group increased their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $528.77.

Moody’s Company 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.