Procyon Advisors LLC Purchases 46 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 5.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 953 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Moody’s by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,696,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,956,684,000 after buying an additional 63,820 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,680,799 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,738,645,000 after buying an additional 68,627 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Moody’s during the fourth quarter worth approximately $988,750,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Moody’s by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,776,729 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $841,050,000 after acquiring an additional 302,453 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Moody’s by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,590,679 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $752,980,000 after purchasing an additional 220,681 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.3%

MCO opened at $489.00 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $455.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $473.58. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $531.93. 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 has a market capitalization of $87.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.39, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.39.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.25. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is 32.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 415 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.80, for a total value of $181,687.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,690 shares in the company, valued at $27,445,682. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of several analyst reports. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Moody’s in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $481.00 to $508.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Moody’s from $533.00 to $468.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Moody’s from $489.00 to $523.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $519.40.

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.