Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 67 Shares of Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,038 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Moody’s comprises about 1.8% of Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $6,172,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 566.7% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Moody’s by 272.2% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Moody’s in the third quarter worth $36,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in Moody’s during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,314,236.28. This represents a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 843 shares of company stock valued at $405,455 in the last quarter. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $490.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $495.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Moody’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $522.62.

Moody’s Stock Performance

Shares of Moody’s stock opened at $522.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $94.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.74, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $484.94 and its 200 day moving average is $478.65. Moody’s Co. has a 1 year low of $360.05 and a 1 year high of $531.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 12.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. This is a positive change from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.