Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 57 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,180 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 57 shares during the quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $559,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its position in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% during the 3rd 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 grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the third quarter worth about $36,000. 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 buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 101.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE MCO opened at $475.74 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $480.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $471.06. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $503.95. The company has a market capitalization of $86.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.05%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value of $134,596.19. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,524 shares of company stock valued at $1,178,413. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James lowered shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Moody’s from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $506.14.

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.