Meridian Wealth Management LLC Takes $210,000 Position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 442 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its stake in Moody’s by 106.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 5,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,953 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Moody’s by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 962,604 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $456,842,000 after acquiring an additional 10,008 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 19,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,019,000 after acquiring an additional 1,339 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 13,968 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,629,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Moody’s by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,075,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $985,115,000 after purchasing an additional 502,891 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Moody’s

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $654,296. This represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total value of $134,596.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,387,952.46. The trade was a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Moody’s from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $455.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Moody’s from $451.00 to $462.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Moody’s presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $500.00.

Moody’s Stock Performance

MCO stock opened at $494.03 on Tuesday. Moody’s Co. has a twelve month low of $358.49 and a twelve month high of $495.10. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $473.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $452.29. The firm has a market cap of $89.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.12, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.29. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.32. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.43 earnings per share. Moody’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Moody’s Co. will post 12.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Moody’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.05%.

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.