Atria Investments Inc Acquires 289 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,075 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $3,823,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in Moody’s by 566.7% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% in the 3rd 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 stake in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO opened at $461.97 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $531.93. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $83.15 billion, a PE ratio of 40.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $489.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $482.61.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 33.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $528.77.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total transaction of $146,738.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,321,046.80. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 in the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.