Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO – Get Rating) by 10.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,307 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,648 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $4,207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BDO Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 110.0% during the third quarter. BDO Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 126 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth $56,000. Coston McIsaac & Partners bought a new stake in Moody’s during the second quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Moody’s in the second quarter valued at about $72,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.84% of the company’s stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Raymond James downgraded Moody’s from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Moody’s from $294.00 to $293.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Moody’s from $329.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Moody’s from $309.00 to $342.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $307.67.
Moody’s Stock Up 0.2 %
Moody’s (NYSE:MCO – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.18. Moody’s had a return on equity of 62.08% and a net margin of 25.13%. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.33 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 9.38 EPS for the current year.
Moody’s Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 23rd. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 41.40%.
Insider Activity at Moody’s
In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 483 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $146,580.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $452,488.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 483 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total value of $146,580.84. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $452,488.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John J. Goggins sold 8,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.62, for a total value of $2,542,008.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,598,597.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,701 shares of company stock worth $7,046,117 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.
Moody’s Profile
Moody’s Corp. engages in the provision of credit ratings, research, tools and analysis to the global capital markets. It operates through the following segments: Moody’s Investors Service (MIS) and Moody’s Analytics (MA). The MIS segment is a credit rating agency, which publishes credit ratings on debt obligations and the entities, including various corporate and governmental obligations, structured finance securities and commercial paper programs.
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