Quadrant Capital Group LLC Has $720,000 Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,522 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $720,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Avitas Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 451 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $777,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional lifted its position in Moody’s by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,113 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Moody’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 1,258 shares of company stock valued at $610,936 over the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Moody’s Trading Down 9.2 %

MCO opened at $401.74 on Monday. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $360.05 and a 1-year high of $531.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.27 billion, a PE ratio of 35.65, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. 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 50-day moving average price of $482.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $478.89.

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

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. This is an increase from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s payout ratio is presently 33.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently 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. Oppenheimer increased their price target 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $523.43.

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.