Accretive Wealth Partners LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Accretive Wealth Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,531 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 32 shares during the period. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,198,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,861,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of Moody’s by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 62,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,858,000 after buying an additional 6,340 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 32.5% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,777,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510 shares during the period. Burney Co. purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth about $6,775,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 567.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 80,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $38,338,000 after purchasing an additional 68,674 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:MCO opened at $522.76 on Friday. 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 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market cap of $94.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $484.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $478.15.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. Equities analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 31.05%.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total value of $133,087.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 843 shares of company stock valued at $405,455 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MCO shares. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $468.00 to $481.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $522.62.

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.