Triangle Securities Wealth Management Has $1.06 Million Stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Triangle Securities Wealth Management reduced its stake in shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,232 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 23 shares during the quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $1,057,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Moody’s by 74,000.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 724,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $343,935,000 after purchasing an additional 723,721 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 12.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,581,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,123,294,000 after buying an additional 723,226 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Moody’s by 32.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $985,115,000 after acquiring an additional 502,891 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s by 22.6% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,333,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,344,000 after acquiring an additional 430,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Moody’s by 13.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,612,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,708,851,000 after acquiring an additional 416,535 shares in the last quarter. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of MCO opened at $475.74 on Friday. Moody’s Co. has a 12 month low of $360.05 and a 12 month high of $503.95. The stock has a market cap of $86.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $480.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $470.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 57.97% and a net margin of 29.05%. Moody’s’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.43 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on MCO. Raymond James lowered shares of Moody’s from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $506.14.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,354 shares in the company, valued at $29,387,952.46. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,524 shares of company stock valued at $1,178,413 in the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.