Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC Invests $211,000 in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 446 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 272.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Stock Down 4.2 %

MCO stock opened at $481.05 on Wednesday. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $490.15 and its 200 day moving average is $482.75. The firm has a market cap of $86.59 billion, a PE ratio of 42.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31.

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 firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. On average, research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MCO shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently 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.