Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Holdings Boosted by Aprio Wealth Management LLC

Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 781 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $371,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Motco grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 9,756.3% during the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 1,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $620,000 after acquiring an additional 1,561 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s in the first quarter worth $2,967,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 52.2% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,264 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,844,000 after purchasing an additional 12,099 shares in the last quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s in the first quarter worth $2,893,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 8.9% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 38,650 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,191,000 after purchasing an additional 3,169 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of MCO opened at $470.86 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $473.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $430.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $298.86 and a 52 week high of $495.10.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 11.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MCO shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Moody’s to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $492.00 to $536.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $483.85.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Moody’s news, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 1,862 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.43, for a total transaction of $848,010.66. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $473,647.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total transaction of $232,030.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,084,606.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825 over the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is 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.