Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Increases Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $4,060,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in Moody’s by 566.7% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 83.0% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 101.9% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,524 shares of company stock worth $1,178,413 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $479.05 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $503.95. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $480.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $470.31. The stock has a market cap of $86.80 billion, a PE ratio of 43.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.43 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Evercore ISI started coverage on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $506.14.

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.