Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY Purchases 71 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY boosted its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 58,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Moody’s accounts for 1.5% of Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $27,595,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 566.7% in 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 during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 272.2% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Moody’s in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $528.77.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 over the last ninety days. 0.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCO opened at $503.63 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $360.05 and a twelve month high of $531.93. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $489.59 and its 200-day moving average is $482.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.69, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

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.