Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Sold by Values Added Financial LLC

Values Added Financial LLC cut its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 13.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 742 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 115 shares during the quarter. Values Added Financial LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MCO. Natixis purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 4,900.0% during the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 2,547 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.50, for a total value of $958,945.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,099 shares in the company, valued at $20,368,273.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCO has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Moody’s from $430.00 to $414.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group upped their target price on Moody’s from $355.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Moody’s from $420.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Moody’s from $340.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $390.42.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $393.03 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $71.73 billion, a PE ratio of 45.02, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day moving average of $387.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $362.83. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $290.98 and a 52-week high of $407.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 27.16% and a return on equity of 55.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 10.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.95%.

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.