Vision Financial Markets LLC Buys New Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 141 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $67,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $2,303,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 94.7% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $613,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in Moody’s by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 64,877 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,711,000 after purchasing an additional 1,964 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in Moody’s by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 8,075 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,823,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Moody’s by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,487 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,177,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Trading Up 0.2 %

MCO stock opened at $482.12 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $86.78 billion, a PE ratio of 42.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $531.93. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $490.19 and its 200 day moving average is $482.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted 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 business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total transaction of $146,738.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,321,046.80. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $528.77.

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.