Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC Invests $202,000 in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 427 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Moody’s by 272.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 83.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCO has been the subject of a number of research reports. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Moody’s from $468.00 to $481.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $522.62.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 843 shares of company stock worth $405,455 over the last 90 days. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCO opened at $522.76 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.72 billion, a PE ratio of 47.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $484.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $478.15. Moody’s Co. has a 52-week low of $360.05 and a 52-week 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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.39 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

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.