Smith Salley Wealth Management Raises Stock Holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Smith Salley Wealth Management grew its holdings in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,708 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 593 shares during the quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management's holdings in Moody's were worth $4,595,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MCO. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Moody's by 22.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 24,403 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $10,272,000 after buying an additional 4,548 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Moody's by 19.8% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 9,746 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,102,000 after purchasing an additional 1,608 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC increased its position in Moody's by 9.3% during the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 8,961 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,772,000 after purchasing an additional 762 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its stake in Moody's by 19.5% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,483 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Moody's by 87.0% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 106,383 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $44,780,000 after purchasing an additional 49,493 shares during the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Moody's from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Moody's from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Moody's from $462.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Moody's from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $506.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares of the company's stock, valued at $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.62, for a total transaction of $133,087.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,524 shares of company stock worth $1,178,413. Corporate insiders own 0.07% of the company's stock.

Moody's Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:MCO traded down $3.26 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $475.74. The company had a trading volume of 768,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 466,859. Moody's Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $503.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.45, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $480.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $471.06.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.71 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.43 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody's Co. will post 12.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.05%.

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.