188 Shares in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) Acquired by Belpointe Asset Management LLC

Belpointe Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO – Get Rating) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 188 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $52,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Veritas Asset Management LLP lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 137.1% during the 3rd quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 1,308,435 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $318,094,000 after purchasing an additional 756,663 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,148,302 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $765,385,000 after purchasing an additional 249,312 shares during the period. Bristol John W & Co. Inc. NY purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 4th quarter worth $55,430,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Moody’s during the 3rd quarter worth $37,495,000. Finally, Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Ltd now owns 1,874,769 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $522,348,000 after purchasing an additional 150,070 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.84% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $312.79 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $303.23 and a 200-day moving average of $299.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The company has a market capitalization of $57.40 billion, a PE ratio of 41.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.30. Moody’s Co. has a 1-year low of $230.16 and a 1-year high of $335.91.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The business services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.43 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 59.87% and a net margin of 25.42%. The company’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 9.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 18th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.18%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.15, for a total transaction of $570,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,838 shares in the company, valued at $19,344,005.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 483 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.48, for a total transaction of $146,580.84. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $452,488.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.15, for a total transaction of $570,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 67,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,344,005.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,701 shares of company stock worth $7,046,117 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MCO. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Moody’s from $329.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Tuesday, May 9th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $312.00 target price on the stock. 1-800-FLOWERS.COM reaffirmed an “initiates” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Tuesday, May 9th. StockNews.com started coverage on Moody’s in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Moody’s from $308.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $308.80.

Moody’s Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Moody’s Corp. engages in the provision of credit ratings, research, tools and analysis to the global capital markets. It operates through the Moody’s Investors Service (MIS) and Moody’s Analytics (MA) segments. The MIS segment is a credit rating agency, which publishes credit ratings on debt obligations and the entities, including various corporate and governmental obligations, structured finance securities, and commercial paper programs.