NewEdge Wealth LLC Sells 106 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

NewEdge Wealth LLC reduced its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,140 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 106 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $2,906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Moody’s by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,047,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,344,802,000 after purchasing an additional 63,556 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 12.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,123,294,000 after purchasing an additional 723,226 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 13.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,708,851,000 after purchasing an additional 416,535 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Moody’s by 22.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,107,344,000 after purchasing an additional 430,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Moody’s by 32.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $985,115,000 after purchasing an additional 502,891 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $503.63 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $489.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $482.18. The firm has a market cap of $90.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus 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.