Chronos Wealth Management LLC Grows Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Chronos Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 72.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,604 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 673 shares during the quarter. Moody’s accounts for approximately 0.4% of Chronos Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Chronos Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new position in shares of Moody’s in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in Moody’s in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Moody’s by 114.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 75 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 83.0% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Price Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $488.46 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $298.86 and a 52 week high of $495.10. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $477.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $435.57. The company has a market capitalization of $89.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.33, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.29.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.22. Moody’s had a net margin of 28.34% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.72 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 11.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.12%.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In other news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,619,386.22. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Moody’s news, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 500 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $464.06, for a total value of $232,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,084,606.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Stephen T. Tulenko sold 569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.26, for a total transaction of $252,783.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,147 shares in the company, valued at $3,619,386.22. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 2,931 shares of company stock valued at $1,332,825. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI began coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $488.46.

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.