563 Shares in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Bought by Wayfinding Financial LLC

Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 563 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MCO. Avitas Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,327,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Okabena Investment Services Inc. grew its stake in Moody’s by 0.8% in the third quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Moody’s by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 746 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional grew its stake in Moody’s by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total transaction of $133,435.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,390,984.84. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock valued at $552,193 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $459.57 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $485.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $480.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.34. 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.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective 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 reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $504.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.