Allworth Financial LP Boosts Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 74,000.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 724,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $343,935,000 after acquiring an additional 723,721 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 12.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,123,294,000 after acquiring an additional 723,226 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Moody’s by 32.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $985,115,000 after acquiring an additional 502,891 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,107,344,000 after buying an additional 430,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,708,851,000 after buying an additional 416,535 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of MCO opened at $511.27 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The company has a 50-day moving average of $486.89 and a 200 day moving average of $480.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.37, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.31. 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 data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $528.77.

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.