NewEdge Wealth LLC Sells 106 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

NewEdge Wealth LLC lowered its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,140 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 106 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,906,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Moody’s Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of MCO opened at $503.63 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $531.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $489.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $482.18.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MCO shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $528.77.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total value of $133,435.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,390,984.84. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.