Wedbush Securities Inc. Acquires Shares of 597 Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Wedbush Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Moody's Co. (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 597 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $283,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its position in shares of Moody's by 164.1% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 1,436 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,676 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Moody's by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,176 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $558,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Moody's in the third quarter worth $304,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Moody's by 0.7% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 6,504 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,087,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Moody's by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 17,060 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $8,097,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Moody's

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $494.42, for a total value of $138,932.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $30,601,631.48. 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 three months, insiders have sold 1,258 shares of company stock worth $610,936. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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Moody's Trading Up 0.0 %

MCO stock traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $437.85. The company had a trading volume of 296,607 shares, compared to its average volume of 770,608. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.67 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 has a market cap of $78.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.87, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.38. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $470.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $475.49.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $1.70 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moody's Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. This is a boost from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MCO. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Moody's from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Moody's in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $504.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Moody's from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Moody's from $570.00 to $520.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Moody's in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $530.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $524.86.

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.