Welch & Forbes LLC Acquires 53 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Welch & Forbes LLC grew its holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 48,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $22,844,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on MCO shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $528.77.

Moody’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $470.16 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $84.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $489.97 and its 200-day moving average is $482.66. 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 results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 33.36%.

About Moody’s

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.