LGT Financial Advisors LLC Takes Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 175 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $83,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in Moody’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Moody’s by 80.6% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 121 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America initiated coverage on Moody’s in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $530.00 price target on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Moody’s from $585.00 to $495.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Moody’s from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $515.87.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO stock opened at $453.24 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The business has a fifty day moving average of $451.12 and a 200 day moving average of $472.47. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. As a group, research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th 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 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.47%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total transaction of $181,687.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,690 shares in the company, valued at $27,445,682. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 1,392 shares of company stock worth $659,535 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.