492 Shares in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Acquired by D Orazio & Associates Inc.

D Orazio & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 492 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Haverford Trust Co grew its holdings in Moody’s by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 1,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Conning Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 3.0% in the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 778 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.1% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $525,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Moody’s by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,357 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $571,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 960 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Trading Up 1.1 %

MCO traded up $5.31 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $480.79. 155,197 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 735,548. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $344.60 and a 1 year high of $495.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $474.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $446.31. The firm has a market cap of $87.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,296. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James cut shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Bank of America upped their target price on Moody’s from $430.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $500.00.

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.