Ballast Advisors LLC Purchases 242 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Ballast Advisors LLC increased its position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 10.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,651 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 242 shares during the quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,255,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position 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 worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

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 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 owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on MCO shares. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. 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. UBS Group lifted their price target on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $527.00.

Moody’s Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $459.57 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $485.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $480.65. 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 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $531.93.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 33.36%.

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.