NewEdge Advisors LLC Has $1.01 Million Holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 61.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,123 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 804 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC's holdings in Moody's were worth $1,005,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Moody's by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,001 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $485,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Moody's by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 67,560 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $31,981,000 after buying an additional 4,544 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,718 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $8,861,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Moody's by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 994,384 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $470,712,000 after acquiring an additional 31,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 14,316 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,777,000 after acquiring an additional 3,510 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody's news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.20, for a total value of $146,738.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,321,046.80. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,392 shares of company stock worth $659,535. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Performance

Shares of MCO traded up $8.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $447.90. 316,706 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 777,622. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Moody's Co. has a 52 week low of $360.05 and a 52 week high of $531.93. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $453.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $472.78. The firm has a market cap of $80.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.90 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody's Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MCO shares. 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 note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Moody's from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Moody's from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Moody's from $575.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Moody's presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.87.

Moody's 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.