Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Shares Bought by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 13.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,651 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,728,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Haverford Trust Co lifted its position 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 worth $580,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Avitas Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Okabena Investment Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 746 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 over the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Moody’s stock opened at $446.67 on Friday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $486.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $481.44. The company has a market capitalization of $80.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.63, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. Moody’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $360.05 and a fifty-two week high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. On average, analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $527.00.

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.