Summit Financial LLC Buys 22 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Summit Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $777,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MCO. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Moody’s by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $485,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,981,000 after purchasing an additional 4,544 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 62,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,858,000 after purchasing an additional 6,340 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 32.5% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,777,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $471.66 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $484.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $479.80. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. 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 (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MCO shares. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $527.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total value of $138,932.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,601,631.48. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 1,258 shares of company stock worth $610,936 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.