Crestmont Private Wealth LLC Has $517,000 Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Crestmont Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,092 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Crestmont Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $517,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MCO. Accurate Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 668 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Traveka Wealth LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the fourth quarter worth approximately $568,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its stake in Moody’s by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 5,169 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,447,000 after acquiring an additional 1,085 shares during the period. Sunflower Bank N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Moody’s by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 932 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $441,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in shares of Moody’s by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,294 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value of $134,596.19. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at $29,387,952.46. This trade represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total transaction of $777,294.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,296. The trade was a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,243 shares of company stock worth $1,045,326. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 1.0 %

MCO opened at $462.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.30. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $503.95. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $479.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $470.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCO has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.