Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Makes New $283,000 Investment in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 597 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $283,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Callan Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter worth about $1,573,000. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,509 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $714,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Moody's by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 5,888 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,787,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Moody's in the fourth quarter worth about $150,376,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in shares of Moody's during the fourth quarter worth about $67,000. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MCO shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Moody's from $481.00 to $531.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup started coverage on Moody's in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $565.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Moody's from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $528.77.

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Moody's Price Performance

NYSE:MCO opened at $444.11 on Wednesday. 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $488.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $482.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.41, a P/E/G 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.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The firm 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. This is a positive change from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Moody's

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,314,236.28. This trade represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

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.

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