641 Shares in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Acquired by EP Wealth Advisors LLC

EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 641 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $304,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCO. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Moody’s by 355.8% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 711 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management purchased a new stake in Moody’s during the second quarter valued at approximately $705,000. Everpar Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Moody’s by 23.3% in the second quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 677 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s by 2.0% in the second quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 3,765 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,585,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 18.6% during the second quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 428,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $180,199,000 after purchasing an additional 67,118 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $489.02 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $88.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50-day moving average is $478.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $460.14. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $503.95.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.43 earnings per share. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Moody’s from $460.00 to $514.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $536.00 to $543.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $501.46.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Company 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.