TD Private Client Wealth LLC Sells 2,582 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

TD Private Client Wealth LLC trimmed its position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 88.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 351 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,582 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $273,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody’s in the 3rd quarter worth $210,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody’s by 2.8% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 40,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $19,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 10.7% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 722 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 272.2% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.8 %

NYSE MCO opened at $477.52 on Wednesday. Moody’s Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a market capitalization of $85.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $486.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $480.33.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 29.03% and a return on equity of 58.94%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 value of $133,087.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MCO. StockNews.com cut shares of Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $527.00.

Moody’s Company 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.