Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Raises Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $4,060,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its position in Moody’s by 566.7% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 83.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were 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 owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,524 shares of company stock valued at $1,178,413. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MCO. Raymond James downgraded Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup initiated coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $506.14.

Moody’s Price Performance

MCO stock opened at $479.05 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $480.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $470.31. The stock has a market cap of $86.80 billion, a PE ratio of 43.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 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 has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

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.