Meridian Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) by 41.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 625 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Moody’s were worth $296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,047,772 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,344,802,000 after purchasing an additional 63,556 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted 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 valued at $3,123,294,000 after purchasing an additional 723,226 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $1,708,851,000 after purchasing an additional 416,535 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 430,878 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Moody’s by 32.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 502,891 shares during the period. 92.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.2 %

MCO opened at $482.12 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $490.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $482.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.47. Moody’s Co. has a one year low of $360.05 and a one year high of $531.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.31.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. Moody’s had a return on equity of 58.94% and a net margin of 29.03%. Analysts anticipate that Moody’s Co. will post 13.95 EPS for the current year.

Moody’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Moody’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Moody’s’s payout ratio is 33.36%.

Insider Activity at Moody’s

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $474.86, for a total value of $133,435.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 61,894 shares in the company, valued at $29,390,984.84. The trade was a 0.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 1,124 shares of company stock worth $552,193 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on Moody’s from $510.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Moody’s from $459.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $565.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Moody’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $528.77.

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.