Cary Street Partners Financial LLC Buys New Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 393 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $186,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,696,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,956,684,000 after acquiring an additional 63,820 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,799 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,738,645,000 after acquiring an additional 68,627 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $988,750,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Moody’s by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,776,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $841,050,000 after acquiring an additional 302,453 shares during the period. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,537,331 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $727,726,000 after purchasing an additional 53,504 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MCO. Mizuho initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Moody’s from $610.00 to $572.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Moody’s from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $515.87.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCO opened at $471.15 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $446.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $471.63. The company has a market capitalization of $84.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.81, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.40. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $378.71 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. Sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 32.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.08, for a total transaction of $192,178.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,824 shares in the company, valued at $29,092,537.92. The trade was a 0.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 1,111 shares of company stock valued at $520,603 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s 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.